The Son in Between
by Gamer AlchemistZ
Summary: AU. Hayate is the son of Suzaku and Kallen. He is used to his parents' arguments, his father staying in a costume and never really having time for him. He accepts that. What he does not accept is that every little thing has to do with Lelouch. Even his lover Cecily. Using Cecily's power, he goes back in time to find out why everything revolves around Lelouch.
1. Intro

**The Son in Between**

He awoke to voices arguing again. Like he always did. This time he could only hear his mother's voice. His father must've been on the phone.

It was always like this.

His mother was always yelling while his father took whatever she said and stood silent.

The dark haired young man climbed out of his bed and got ready for school. By the time he was done and was making his way to the kitchen to get his toast that his mother always put out for him, he noticed how much her voice had softened. No matter how much she fought with his father, he knew way deep down somewhere that she did love him.

When he had turned 15, they had told him the reason the masked man was always there for him. It was on that day that he saw his father's face for the first time. He definitely agreed with his mother whenever she said he looked exactly like his father but with her eyes.

They told him the story of how and why his father was stuck in that suit and why he couldn't be a real father to him. He learned about his supposed Uncle Lelouch and how he died to make Japan a better place for everyone.

He learned about why everyone had looked at him strangely growing up. The only one who never did was his supposed Aunt Nunnally. She knew it was his father behind the mask and not her older brother. His mother's friends didn't know, so they only had theories of how he came to be.

His mother sighed, running an agitated hand through her red hair. Even after her light teen years, the strands still stood up lively. She smiled at him apologetically, "Sorry for waking you again, Hayate. I was just a little angry at your father for not being there at your birthday party yesterday."

"He's a busy man," Hayate replied, taking a bite out of his crispy toast. He shrugged, "I can't expect him to be everywhere at once. Didn't you tell me that when I was younger?"

His mother frowned and nodded, "Your father is a busy man. I just thought he would be there at the end at least."

Hayate smiled slightly in reassurance, "It's fine. I'm not mad or anything." He smirked, "You're angry enough for both of us as it is."

Kallen glared at him playfully, taking his toast and biting into it. "Very funny. I see you got your father's sense of humor."

Hayate chuckled, shaking his head and snatching his toast back, "I gotta have something other than his looks." He grabbed his bag and walked towards the door. "I'll see you when I get home, okay? I've got a busy day ahead of me."

"Be safe," Kallen called to his retreating back. "And give your father hell for me, okay?"

He waved a hand in the air as he kept walking, "Hai."

…

Hayate yawned, his mouth opening widely as he stretched his arms above his head. He froze, glancing around the classroom when he noticed everyone staring at him, "Nani?"

The teacher rolled her eyes, pushing up her glass on her hooked nose, "Mr. Kozuki, could you please give me the answer to this equation?"

Hayate laid his head on his palm, gazing at the lengthy math problem on the board. He sighed in annoyance, "X=25."

The teacher frowned, turning back to the board, "As I expected from a sl-" She paused, going over the equation. She clenched her fists in defeat as she turned back to the boy, "I see. You are correct, Mr. Kozuki."

Hayate rolled his eyes, putting his arms behind his head and his feet on his desk. Before the woman could open her mouth, the bell rang, signaling the students to leave class. She huffed, stalking out of the room.

Hayate felt even more annoyance when he felt an arm wrap around his shoulder, and heard a familiar voice in his ear, "Man, Hayate, you really gotta teach me how you do that?"

The blue haired boy, known to everyone as Guy, was the son of Rivalz Cardemonde. He hung out with Hayate a lot, his attention was irritating at the most, but he was a good friend. He had to admit, he did like driving Guy's motorcycle, much to Guy's dismay.

Hayate had met Guy's father once and the two were exactly the same from their personality to their blue hair and grey eyes. The Kozuki boy noticed that Rivalz never made eye contact once with him. Hayate assumed it was because he was once friends with his father, and he was almost a copy of the supposed dead man.

The dark haired young man threw off the other male's arm and walked out of the room after gathering his stuff. He couldn't shake him off as they headed to the same direction. Guy pouted, "You always do this, Hayate. I thought we were friends."

"We are," Hayate reassured the blue haired boy in a drawl. "Somehow, you've gotten under my skin and I dislike you a bit less than the rest of the people in the world. That doesn't include my family though."

Guy gasped, looking starry eyed as he hugged Hayate once more, "Oh, that's probably the nicest thing you've ever said to me."

Hayate rolled his eyes, dragging Guy with him as he continued walking. He clenched his jaw when he heard a distinctive chuckle from ahead of them. "That's probably the only nice thing he's said to anyone," The blond in front of them smirked.

Guy released his friend, grinning at the other male, "Hey, Hans. What are you doing here?"

Hans Weinberg was the son of Gino Weinberg, a man Hayate didn't really like so much. Gino was very friendly, and not really a bad man. Hayate didn't like him because he hit on his mother too much even though he was already married.

Hans was someone he disliked way more than normal. The blond haired, blue eyed teen liked to seem like he was above Hayate, while Hayate never really cared. He just found it way more annoying than anything else.

Hans smirked, patting Guy's head and dragging him with him, "Sally wants us to get to the student council clubhouse. You know how she feels about people who are late."

Hayate rolled his eyes as he followed the two. The only good thing that came out of these student council things was that there were people in there who he actually liked. Well, disliked less than others.

Sally Ashford, the daughter of new reporter Milly Ashford, was the student council president and the great-granddaughter of Ruben K. Ashford, the school's superintendent. However, her grandfather was going to take his place in a few years. Sally never found out about her real father since he left Milly when he found out she was pregnant. That never affected mother or daughter.

Hugo Magil, son of Nina Einstein-Magil, was the treasurer of the student council and one of the smartest people Hayate knew. He was a quiet guy which was one of the reasons Hayate hung out with him.

His twin sister, Amy Magil, was also as smart as him and wasn't so reserved. She was the secretary of the student council and loved going over ideas with Sally. The two were inseparable. The only thing Hayate liked about them was that they weren't too loud, and they didn't like Hans' flirting as much as anyone.

The only person Hayate could and would call his best friend was Naoto Ohgi. Not only was he named after his deceased uncle, he was also the son of his uncle's friend, Kaname Ohgi. Ohgi took care of his mother for years and in Hayate's eyes, he was a truly great man.

Hayate and Naoto were inseparable since childhood since they grew up together. Naoto's older sister, Mei, was four years older than them, so they didn't get to see her much as she was already off in college. She would visit for her parents' or Naoto's birthday. Hayate got along with Mei as well, but she took after her mother, Villetta Nu-Ohgi while Naoto took after Ohgi.

Hayate sighed as he, Hans and Guy made it into the clubhouse; it was going to be a long school day.

…

Hayate groaned, falling to the floor with a thud. His father trained him a bit too hard in his opinion, but he guessed it was worth it to spend time with the man. He scarcely ever did since Suzaku had to stay in his Zero uniform all day.

His father had told him that he had to give up the name and life of Suzaku for Lelouch and the world, but he would gladly bring it back from the dead to be his father. He was glad for that, as were Suzaku and Nunnally.

Suzaku stood over him with a smile on his lips, "Ready for another go?"

Hayate panted, feeling his sweat cool down a bit. He grunted, taking his father's outstretched hand and lifting himself up. He smirked, "You know, Mom's really mad that you didn't come to the birthday party."

Suzaku sighed heavily, "I know, I heard her. She knows that I have to be Zero for the world…"

"But you promised her you'd be Suzaku for her and me," Hayate spoke lightly. Though he told his mom he understood that his father had more important things to do than go to a birthday party, it still hurt that he wasn't there. "I'm not mad, Dad. But she did tell me to give you hell."

Suzaku chuckled, getting into a battle stance, "I'd like to see you try, son."


	2. The Man Everyone Knows

**Chapter 2**

_(A/N: The power suit Hayate uses is Incursio from Akame ga Kill with added weaponry, cape and wings.)  
_

When Hayate found out his mother and father used to operate Knightmares, he told them he wanted to operate one too. While they protested at first, saying they only did it because they had to fight for what they believed in, even though most of the time they fought each other, he told them he wasn't going to fight anyone. Like his father's training, he just wanted to be able to use it.

So his father sent him to Lloyd Asplund, a man that developed the elite Knightmare that he used. Lloyd refused once he looked at him; he didn't like seeing the ghost of his past pop out at him. Cecile Croomy, his assistant, never liked talking to him either. Hayate found it hard to talk to older people who knew his father well.

Just as he was about to give up hope, a man who worked with Lloyd told him he would help him. His name was Genma Kazuki. He was 30 some year old dark haired man who specialized in the same work Lloyd did and didn't know Suzaku so he was happy to help Hayate. He hadn't been lucky trying to find test subjects for the suit.

Hayate didn't get to pilot a Knightmare like he wanted to, but he got something even better. Genma had been working on a power suit that was even stronger than the Knightmares. It was powered by Sakuradite, just like the machines, but it was faster and more agile than them all. Hayate was more than happy to be the test subject for it.

"How does it feel?" Genma asked as Hayate moved around in the suit. It had taken him three years to perfect it and he would be damn upset if it didn't work.

Hayate grinned though it was unseen by the mask he was wearing. It fit him perfectly and he loved it. This was even better than a Knightmare that was for sure. He didn't have the heart to tell his parents that he was a test subject for this suit; no doubt they'd tell him he couldn't use it. He could feel the power layered on top of him just by wearing the suit.

"It feels great," Hayate replied happily. "Sometimes I wish I could use this in a battle or something. That'd be awesome."

Genma grinned widely, clapping his hands, "I know, right? The weapons on this are the best ever made. Not trying to toot my own horn here, but they really are that awesome. Here…" He took hold of Hayate's wrists, showing him the small weapons on it, "This shoots off high powered beams. Only enough to shock a Knightmare unfortunately. It's enough to fatally damage a human if you charge a lot into it."

He then went to his desk, pulling out a sword. Once he passed it over to the younger male, Hayate could feel the dullness of it. He furrowed his brow confusedly, "How is this a weapon?"

Genma took it back, demonstrating, "If it's not powered up, it's not really that much of a harmful weapon." He pressed on the pink button on the hilt of the sword. Hayate watched in awe as the sides of the dull sword were now sharpened by a pink light. "This is how it's a weapon. It can cut through a Knightmare and any human really. I've tested it myself and, I dare say it, it really is one of my finest works. Also…"

He went up to Hayate and pulled on the back of the suit. Hayate chuckled when a white cape popped out. It was the Japanese flag, much to his amusement. Genma pulled some kind of string on the back once more and metal wings popped out.

"This is so awesome," Hayate breathed in shock.

Genma nodded in satisfaction, "That it is, my friend. And it's yours to keep."

That gave the younger male a pause, "Huh?"

"Unfortunately," Genma sighed, seeming a bit upset. "The suit can only be compatible to a certain degree. It has to accept the body for it to be in use. It's a security system and a defense mechanism. The suit was never for me and so it was only compatible to you. It would be stupid and hard for me to find another person compatible with that suit. So you can keep it. Think of it as a late birthday present."

Hayate pulled off the helmet, smiling gratefully, "I don't know what to say. Thanks, Genma. It means a lot."

Genma smiled back, patting the boy's shoulder, "Just take care of it. My heart and soul went into it for you."

"I will," Hayate's smile widened as he put the helmet back on.

…

"Hayate!" The young man turned around to the sound of the student council president's voice. He wondered what she wanted since there was no meeting for today and the next few days were non school days.

"Yeah, Sally?" He answered as the blonde finally caught up to him.

Sally huffed a bit out of breath from trying to catch up to him and smiled brightly, "I was wondering if you weren't doing anything over the next few days, maybe we could do something together."

Hayate froze, almost choking in shock. He didn't like refusing pretty girls; his mother told him it was impolite unless he was already taken which he was; no one knew about it though. Sally was a very pretty girl, beautiful actually but since Hayate practically grew up with her, just like every other person in the student council, he didn't see her that way.

He laughed nervously, swallowing, "W-well, I'm actually gonna help my uncle Ohgi with something, so I probably am gonna be a little busy, but if something clears up, I'll call you."

He hated himself when he saw the crestfallen look on her face. He sighed lightly, trying to put on a smile for her, "I'll be seeing you, Sally."

"Yeah," Sally replied quietly, bobbing her head as she walked away.

…

When he came home from school, he should've known something was going to go wrong. He knew these days came once or twice a year and he hated them. That morning, he didn't see much of his mother before he left to school which should've warned him. His mother was always up before him every morning to make him breakfast, even when he told her he could make it himself. So he should've known something was wrong when he rushed out of the house without his usual breakfast.

"Mom?" He called as he shut the front door. "You here?" The lights were dimmed in the living room, so he knew she was there.

He walked over there, dropping his book bag by the door. He knelt by the couch where his mother sat, silent and unmoving. He put his hand on her knee worriedly, "Mom, are you okay?"

Kallen seemed to snap out of her daze, slowly bring her gaze to him. Her eyes were redder than he had ever seen them and he knew what today was. He felt a small ball of anger explode in his chest, but let his mother say what she had to.

"Lelouch," She muttered almost inaudibly. "It's been 21 years since his death."

To him, on this day, it always felt like the man had just died since everyone's reactions were the same every single year. He couldn't just go one year with some peace because it was always about Lelouch. He knew he sounded selfish, but his mother and father were always like this.

"I know, Mom," Hayate gritted his teeth, standing up. He clenched his fist, holding in his anger which he never knew if he had gotten it from his mother or father. "You remind every year on this day. Now I'm sure this Lelouch guy died for the good of the country, as you and Dad say. I just never get why you guys always whine and cry on this day. He died for you, for the country."

"I didn't want him to die for me!" Kallen shouted, standing from the couch and glaring at her son. Their eyes clashed and it was like staring into a mirror. "I wanted him to be alive. That's all I wanted."

Hayate glared back, feeling his nails pinch at the skin of his palms. "You can't have two things, Mom. It was either him or peace between Britannia and Japan. That's what you fought for; you, Dad and Lelouch. Now you're telling me you wanted him alive more than you wanted peace."

"I loved him," Kallen's eyes shined with unshed tears as she brought a shaking hand to her mouth. "I loved him and he died for the country. I didn't want that."

"From the way I see it, that wasn't your choice," Hayate clenched his jaw, trying to will his anger back to the bottle he had always kept it in. "You fought for Japan because Uncle Naoto and Uncle Ohgi fought for Japan. I'm pretty sure they wouldn't stand for the fact that you gave up peace because you didn't want your boyfriend to die for it."

"Hayate, stop," Kallen ordered, her drive coming back to her. This is what he wanted, he thought to himself. He wanted his mother to stop wallowing in self pity. "You don't know what you're talking about."

"I don't know what I'm talking about?" The Kozuki male questioned incredulously. The burning in his chest was roaring fiercely now. "I've had to deal with this for 17 years. Not only from you, but from Dad too. I get it, you were in love with him but I am sick and tired of you crying over him as if he had just died yesterday. Stop being an idiot and move on. He's dead, you can't bring him back!"

He didn't realize how strong she was until now. Her slap was so hard it stung his cheek harshly and its sharp sound irritated his ears.

Kallen gasped, staring at her hand as Hayate continued to stand frozen in disbelief. She breathed shakily, her tears now escaping her eyes. She tried to console him, "O-oh, Hayate. I'm so sorry, honey. I'm so-"

He smacked her hand away when she tried to touch his cheek. He glared at her, not feeling an ounce of guilt when she flinched away from his harsh stare. "I'm going to Dad's."

He ran upstairs quickly, throwing his clothes out of his drawers and packing them in his bag. Once he packed all his essentials, he picked up the power suit Genma had given him and ran out of his room. He ignored his mother's pleas and cries for him to stay. He grabbed his school bag as well and walked out of the house.

He didn't want to see her face for a few days.

…

He should've known that while his mother wasn't easy to talk to, his father wouldn't be any better. While his mother was in love with Lelouch, his father was childhood friends with him and had to kill the other man with his own hands. He just thought that he would find a saving grace in his father for once in his life.

Unfortunately, that saving grace did not come today like usual. Nunnally had told him that Suzaku was at the cemetery, garbed in his usual Zero suit. He found Suzaku in front of his own empty grave and Lelouch's.

He walked up to him slowly, "Dad, what are you doing out here? Come back inside and we can eat something."

Suzaku was silent for a beat before speaking, "21 years since his death. I've had to give up my life for the good of this country and so did he."

"I know, Dad," Hayate replied slowly, standing next to him. "I know it's not fair, you and Mom say that all the time, but you can't do anything about it. You wanted peace and this is how you got it. Just move on. I'm sure that's what Lelouch wanted."

"I know, but it's hard," Suzaku clenched his fists tightly. It was the only thing Hayate could see since the mask covered his father's face. "I didn't want for him to die for us, for these ungrateful people."

"But that's what he wanted, Dad," Hayate responded, trying to coax his father into the house. "He wanted this, so please, Dad, stop this. You guys do this every year and I can't deal with it anymore. You spend more time thinking of Lelouch than you spend time with me and it's not fair. For Kami's sake, Dad, can't you just move on and live like he wanted you to? Even Aunt Nunnally has moved on. No matter how much you and Mom wallow in self pity, it's not going to bring him back, so sto-"

He grunted painfully when his father grabbed him around the neck and slammed him into one of the stone coffins next to them. He choked, feeling his father's grip tighten, cutting off his air. Suzaku's eyes widened under his mask once he realized what he was doing and dropped his son.

Hayate breathed deeply, trying to get air back into his lungs. He landed on his knees, holding his bruised throat. He was used to his father's strength when they sparred, but this was entirely different. His father saw him as an enemy he wanted to take out which made the younger Kururugi freeze in his place.

Suzaku moved towards his son hesitantly, putting his hand on his back, "Hayate, I'm so sor-"

Hayate smacked his hand away, finding his strength to stand up. He coughed, glaring at his father harshly, "I'm done. I'm done with you and I'm done with Mom. Find me when you stop thinking about Lelouch and start realizing you have a son."

He ran back inside the house, grabbing his things. He muttered a quick thank you to his aunt and ran out once more. Luckily for him, he had one more place to go to.

…

Hayate kissed up the sweaty, quivering stomach of his lover. He grinned wolfishly at her, loving the way she threw him a feigned exasperated look with her darkened yellow eyes. "Another?"

She huffed lightly, pushing his face away playfully. Hayate laughed, putting his arms around her and playing with her lime green hair. "You teenagers," She mumbled into his chest, wrapping her arms around him as well. "You have so much stamina."

Hayate hummed, nuzzling her hair, "I train a lot too. That could be part of the reason as well. Or I just really like spending this kind of time with you."

She began to trace patterns on his back, chuckling, "Oh, I know you do. Men only want thing."

The young man grumbled, feeling his eyes droop at the soothing sensations she was making, "Now that's not true, Cecily." He brought his hand to her chest, massaging her scar that rested on the underside of her breast. "I love spending any kind of time with you. This is just the most fun since we don't get out much."

Cecily rolled her eyes, removing his hand gently and putting it on her waist, "Just go to sleep, tiger. We can have another go in the morning."

He kissed her hair before letting himself drift to sleep with her. As he weaved through the webs of sleep, he dreamt about when he had first met Cecily and how they got to where they were.

_He remembered the day like the back of his hand. He was 15, standing with the crowd and his mother as his aunt Nunnally finished her speech to the people, thanking them for all their hard work. Kallen had walked away, telling him she was going to speak to his father in private. He simply shrugged, telling her he'd wait here and watched her walk away._

_He sighed after a few minutes, turning to find somewhere to sit down. His body collided with another soon after. He cursed mentally, holding onto the person's arms, "Sorry, that was my bad. I wasn't paying atten…tion…"_

_He trailed off as he stared at the woman before him. To start off, he had seen many pretty women in his life. His mom was pretty. His aunt Nunnally was pretty. His aunt Villetta was pretty. His aunt Milly was pretty. Many of his mother's friends were pretty. Mei was pretty. Sally was pretty. Amy was pretty. He knew what pretty was._

_But this woman was something entirely different. For the first time in his life, he felt the tips of his ears heat up along with his cheeks. His stomach fluttered just staring into her hard yellow eyes. He swallowed the lump that suddenly appeared in his throat, "S-s-sorry about that."_

_The green haired woman smiled slightly, waving it off, "It's fine. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going either. I was a bit occupied with listening to the speech."_

"_Yeah," Hayate mumbled uneasily. He felt like hitting himself over the head; he usually knew how to talk to almost anyone and this woman was tying his tongue around against his will. He cleared his throat, holding out his hand, "I'm Hayate Kozuki."_

_The woman stared at his hand before gazing into his eyes intensely. He felt a bead of sweat form on his hairline before she finally shook his hand, "Nice to meet you, Mr. Kozuki. I'm Cecily."_

_Her hand was soft in his, something he had never really felt before. He felt his stomach lurch and his heartbeat speed up. This woman, Cecily was going to be the death of him._

_Cecily glanced up and abruptly pulled her hand out of his, "I have to go." She began to walk away quickly._

_He stared at her in confusion before rushing after her, "W-wait, wait." He grabbed onto her wrist before she keep running, "W-will you be here tomorrow? I-I…"_

_Cecily frowned, gazing around frantically before speaking, "I think it would be best if you didn't see me again. If you can find me again, you can see me as many times as you want."_

_He grinned goofily as she ran off. He walked back to his mother, the smile still on his face. Kallen raised a skeptical eyebrow, "What's going on with your face? I haven't seen that kind of smile on your lips since you were 12."_

"_Nothing," Hayate continued to grin. He threw an arm around her shoulder and began to walk down the sidewalk. "I'm in the mood for ice cream though. Aren't you?"_

_He never got around to telling anyone about the woman, not even his best Naoto. He spent days and days trying to find her again. Every day before he went with his father, he would look for her in the park._

_The fateful day that he found her again was a month after their first meeting. He had just ordered pizza and was going to see if any of his friends wanted to hang out when he saw her. She sat underneath a tree, humming as the birds flew near her. _

_He felt his heart flop at the sight of her and carefully walk towards her, not wanting to scare her away. "He-hello?"_

_Cecily jumped, turning to him quickly. After giving him a once over, her eyes widened at the box of pizza in his hands. "What are you doing here?"_

"_Looking for you," Hayate smiled. "You said if I found you again, I can see you as many times I want."_

_She sighed, stretching her legs out in front of her, "And here I thought you might forget about that."_

_The younger of the two shook his head, keeping the smile on his lips. It was the longest time he had a smile on, "Nope, never. I've been looking for you anytime I can. I've wanted to meet you again. So…"_

_He trailed off and she sighed once more. She smiled slightly, holding her hand out, "I guess your company is welcomed if you keep bringing me pizza."_

_He grinned widely, sitting down next to her and opening the box of pizza. The two talk for a while until he has to go home. She promised to see him again as long as he has pizza._

_He spent all of his allowance buying her pizza._

_It isn't until he's 16 that they start with the intimacy. Hayate realized he's in love with her, but he knows she's not in love with him and probably never will be. She fascinates him and he always wants to be around her._

_No one knew about them. Hayate never said anything to anyone and he assumed Cecily doesn't speak to anyone either. Except Lelouch._

_Lelouch? What the-? Why the hell would he think of that?_

_Lelouch._

_He heard it again. Where was it coming from?_

Hayate opened his eyes groggily, gazing around the room. "Lelouch," He heard once more and finally realized where it was coming from. He felt rage burn at his eyes and chest. He abruptly unwrapped his arms around Cecily, not caring if he woke her up and searched for his clothes.

Cecily grunted, pulling herself to consciousness. She sat up, covering herself with the blanket, "Hayate, what are you doing?"

Hayate shoved on his pants, gritting his teeth, "So you know Lelouch too. Let me guess, you were in love with him."

Cecily sighed roughly, scrubbing at her eyes, "I don't know what you're-"

"I heard you," Hayate hissed, turning to her. He glared at her, feeling his eyes sting with tears. It was one thing for his parents to be affected by Lelouch, but now his lover too? It was like he couldn't get away from the man. "I heard you calling out his name. Kami, I can't-"

He dug the heels of his hands to stop the oncoming tears of anger. "I don't get it. I mean, I get that he was a great man who sacrificed himself for this country but why does everyone around me have to love him so much. My mom, my dad and even you."

He stood up, pulling uniform on sloppily and grabbing his bags. "I don't care anymore," He mumbled in defeat, feeling the life drain out of him. "I'm just gonna go to Guy's house or something. Have a nice life."

He went to the door, ready to end everything with her when she stood quickly from the bed; the sheets now wrapped around her like a makeshift dress and grabbed his arm. Her expression was blank but her eyes were pleading, "Please, Hayate. Let me explain."

"I don't need any explanation, okay?" Hayate replied quietly. "I just want to know why he's such a great man that no one can just move on. I'm not saying to forget him, but to just get on with their lives. I just want to know why."

Cecily gazed around, fidgeting. He'd never seen her like this before. "Okay, fine." He raised a confused eyebrow at her frown. "You want to know why? I'll show you."

He continued to stare in confusion before he felt a jolt in his brain, sending him into a whirlwind. He could see images of Cecily, Lelouch, Suzaku, Kallen and many others before he blacked out.


	3. First Day All Over Again

**Chapter 3**

Hayate winced at the bright sunlight hitting his closed eyelids. He groaned, sitting up. As he gazed at his surroundings, he realized he was at Ashford Academy. He blinked confusedly; wasn't he just with Cecily? How did he get here so fast?

He flinched suddenly. His head throbbed with new memories. Not his memories. It was his father's, his mother's, Cecily's and Lelouch's. He rubbed his temples, wondering what the hell was going on. Why was he at school? Did something happen with him and Cecily?

The last thing he remembered was telling Cecily that he wanted to know why Lelouch affected so many people in his life. She had said she would show him and then…that was all he remembered before he was bombarded with memories and brought back to the school.

He dug the heel of his hand into his eye, standing up from the ground and dusting himself off. He grabbed his stuff and walked to an exit. He yelped when he felt a hand grab onto the collar of his uniform.

"Hey," The familiar voice said behind him. "I know it's a new school for you, but that doesn't mean you can just sneak out because you're afraid. Come on." He blinked when he turned Hayate around, "Whoa…you two brothers?"

Hayate let himself be pulled along confusedly, gazing at the teacher in front of him. He looked way younger than the last time he saw him. Was he…in the past? Or did the teacher do some kind of miracle work on himself?

"Hello." He stiffened at all too familiar voice next to him. He slowly turned, fearing the worst. His heart stopped upon the sight of those familiar green eyes.

Suzaku smiled politely, and almost timidly. It reminded him of when he first saw his father without his mask. Even in his hesitation, he was staring at him intensely, and Hayate knew it was because they looked so much alike. "I'm Suzaku Kururugi. It's nice to meet you. And you are?"

Hayate blinked, trying to move his heavy tongue, "H-Hayate." He swallowed dryly. "Hayate Ko-" Oh no, he couldn't use his real last name for two reasons. One, if he was really in the past that meant Britannia was still at large and Japanese people were looked down upon. Two, his mother would be in school meaning she would be suspicious if he used her Japanese last name. In his blood, only ¼ was Britannian from his mother's side since Suzaku was an honorary Britannian.

"K-K-Kovac," He stuttered hastily. He laughed uneasily, shaking Suzaku's hand, "Hayate Kovac. Nice to meet you too."

Suzaku tilted his head as they finally made it into class, "Do I know y-"

"Students," The teacher called to the adolescents sitting down. "These are the new students; Suzaku Kururugi and Hayate Kovac. Please, make them feel welcomed."

Immediately, the class broke out into whispers upon looking at the two knew students. Hayate felt his eye twitch irritably when he heard the chatter. He gritted his teeth and sat in an empty seat. The students next that seat scattered as far as they could. He lifted up his hand, pointing to the empty seat next to him, "Oi, Suzaku. There's an empty seat right here."

They all stared at him in shock before Suzaku slowly smiled and sat down next to him. Hayate gazed around the room, choking on his own spit when he saw a younger version of his mother and what looked to be Guy's dad and Hugo's mom. He didn't know who the girl next to them was.

Class began after that. Once it was over, Hayate put his feet up on the desk nonchalantly while Suzaku packed quietly, trying to ignore the whispers.

"Why's an Eleven doing here?"

"He was a prime suspect in Prince Clovis' murder."

"They said it was a false arrest."

"Even so, he seems kinda suspicious, doesn't he?"

"Is that his twin brother?"

"Do you think he was the one who actually killed Prince Clovis and let his brother take the fall?"

"Do you think they're terrorists?"

"Of course not. The school can vouch for that."

Hayate grunted, putting his arms behind his head, mumbling, "Can't we have some peace and quiet in school? Isn't that what it's for?"

Suzaku smiled hesitantly, "I guess we have a long ride here at Ashford Academy."

The blue eyed young man yawned, "I guess so. Geez, I really wish they'd be quiet though. This is the time I usually sleep."

Suzaku chuckled before gasping when a dark haired boy walked past him. He glanced over at the doorway, seeing him pull at his collar before leaving the classroom. He smiled apologetically at Hayate, "I'll be right back."

Hayate watched his father walk out of the classroom, narrowing his eyes. So that was Lelouch vi Britannia. No, right now he was Lelouch Lamperouge. So that's what Cecily had done. She really sent him into the past, but how?

He stood from his seat, startling almost all the students around them. He stared at them incredulously before walking out of the class with his things. He didn't want to risk leaving Genma's power suit in those idiots' reach.

If he was in the past, he'd need a place to stay and money? Kami, did Cecily not think this through when she sent him back to the past? He sighed, shaking his head and began walking aimlessly.

He yelped for the second time that day when he was pulled into a secluded corner. He turned to the culprit and glared at the young woman in front of him, "Cecily."

Cecily rolled her eyes, "I assume you don't know what's going on." When Hayate kept glaring, she continued, "I sent you to the past so you could see why Lelouch was such a great man and why he had such an impact on your parents."

"I didn't ask for this," Hayate hissed quietly, glancing around to make sure no one could see them. "I only asked for a small explanation mostly because I wanted to know why you knew him. Instead, you somehow sent me back into time and gave me a bunch of memories I didn't want."

Cecily sighed lightly, touching his face slowly, "I also accidently gave you this." He felt a small tingle in his eyes. She grabbed his phone and showed him the sigil in his eyes. He had seen it enough times when Cecily was nude. "Lelouch and some others have it as well. It's different in every person. Lelouch calls it Geass. It's an ability that can control the minds of others if you demand it while using Geass."

Hayate closed his eyes, feeling the tingle go away. He sighed, rubbing his face, "It all makes sense now; how he became so powerful." He opened his eyes, gazing at her, "What am I supposed to do now; wait until you can finally convince me that Lelouch was such a great man that my mother, father and lover can't get over him? That they can't let go of the past and move on with their lives?"

"Hayate," Cecily whispered, touching his face gently. "I'm sorry this is happening to you, but I just want to show you. It's hard to move on from a death so big like his."

Hayate nodded miserably, brushing her hand off, "Yeah. I would've believed that if it hadn't been 21 years since his death. Get over yourself." He rolled his eyes and began to walk off. He was gonna have to find some place to stay. Maybe the Geass could help with that.

…

The next day, Hayate was ready for whatever the past was going to throw at him. He had used Geass to control the minds of the hotel workers so he could stay and eat there for free. The funny thing was; it still felt like he was running away even though he now went to school with his parents.

He walked down the hall, spying his father walking by himself as well. Though he held a small bit of hatred towards him in the future, he wasn't going to hold it against him now, especially since no one else wanted to be his friend.

He ran up to Suzaku, throwing an arm around his shoulder, startling the poor boy, "Hey, Suzaku. How are ya, friend?"

Suzaku blinked confusedly, "Friend?" He smiled slightly, "I'm fine, I guess. It's a new day after all."

Hayate patted his shoulder, walking past Lelouch and Rivalz and into the classroom, "That it is, Suzaku."

The classroom became silent upon their entrance and that was exactly how Hayate liked it. In the future, Guy was always the one to call out to him when he entered the classroom which always irritated him a bit.

When class was over, he left Suzaku for a bit, telling him he was going to the restroom. After emptying his bladder, he passed by the lockers and noticed two students with spray paint, ready to tag on the surface of the lockers and a white t-shirt. It didn't take a genius to know whose shirt that was.

He clenched his jaw, walking up to the two before they could start their vandalism. "Oi." They turned and glared at him. He simply stared at them coldly, "What the hell do you idiots think you're doing?"

They sneered at him. "None of your business, Eleven," One said. "Why don't go back to your ghetto where you belong?"

Hayate continued to stare blankly, stuffing his hands in his pockets, "Was that what you were going to write down on the lockers? Too bad, now you have to get more material since yours was so original."

"Why you…" The other growled, clenching his fists with his buddy. "Know your place, Eleven."

"Oh, I do," Hayate smirked. "On top of your mother, right?"

It was amusing to see the boy's face turn red then purple as he ran at him. Hayate kicked him in the face, his foot making itself quite a home there before the boy fell to the floor, unconscious.

He activated his Geass on the other boy, seeing the rims of the boy's eyes turn a reddish-orange color, "He's unconscious from the fumes, right? Make sure you tell him that after you write what a douche bag he is on his uniform."

"Yes," The boy nodded dazedly, following the command.

Hayate chuckled and walked away. He patted Suzaku's back when he passed him, grinning. The green eyed boy only stared at him confusedly, but kept walking, giving him a small smile back.

Once he was outside, he lay down under his usual, shady spot and relaxed. No one was going to mess with him or his father. He'd make sure of that. Now, since he was already kinda friends with his dad, what was he going to do about his mom?

He only got to relax for a few minutes before he heard a voice over the intercom, "_This is Milly Ashford, your student council president. Find the cat!_"

Hayate blinked his eyes open, furrowing his brow, "Cat?"

"_Capture the cat which is running loose on campus! Club activities are suspended for the time being. Participating clubs will get priority on their budgets. And whoever catches the cat gets a super special prize; a kiss from a member of the student council._"

Student council? Fearing that it would be him as well, though he technically wasn't in student council in the past, he stood up and ran. He did not want to kiss anyone at this school. But then again, he was so mad at Cecily he didn't want to kiss her either.

"_The cat! When you capture the cat, bring what it's carrying to me! To me! To me!_" Milly shouted over the intercom before coughing hoarsely. Geez, like mother like daughter, he thought to himself, picking up speed.

He blinked when he saw the cat ahead of him, prancing on the rooftop towards the bell tower, "Artie-kun?" He grinned widely, "Artie-kun!" He picked up the pace once more and ran up the stairs to the bell tower, hearing it meow loudly.

He laughed, "Meow!" He always remembered playing with Arthur before he passed away when Hayate was 6. He missed the little cat. They had a weird relationship at first since Arthur liked to bite him a lot, but they got along quite nicely after a week or so.

There was a pause before he heard, "Meow?"

"Meow, meow, Artie-kun," He replied back, running to the top. He panted, finally catching up to the cat that jumped into his arms, "It's good to see you again, Artie-kun. It's been a while." He softly stroked the cat's fur, feeling him almost rumble as he purred. "I've missed you, Artie-kun."

He blinked confusedly when he saw the helmet fall of the cat's head and onto the floor. He picked it up, gazing at the all too familiar surface. It was his dad's helmet. No, it was Lelouch's. He smirked, so that's why the cat was so important to everyone.

He paused, hearing two more sets of footsteps come up. He closed the hat like his father showed him before and shoved it into his uniform, hoping to hide it. He stroked Arthur's fur once more as Suzaku and Lelouch ran up to him.

Lelouch was bent over, hands on his knees and panting heavily. Suzaku beamed when he saw Arthur in Hayate's arms, "You found him? How'd you get to him so quickly?"

Hayate passed Arthur into Suzaku's arms, grinning, "Artie-kun and I go way back. We made up a game based on meows, so it was easy to get him to stop long enough so I could find him." He stroked the content Arthur's fur again.

"Artie-kun?" Suzaku asked as they made their way down the stairs.

Hayate scratched the back of his head, chuckling. "His name is Arthur. Artie-kun is just a nickname I thought up for him. He responds more the Artie-kun than Arthur; well, to me he does." He shifted his arm, making sure the mask wouldn't fall out.

Lelouch frowned, pausing on the stairs. He checked his pockets frantically, trying to find something, "I think I dropped something over at the top. I'll catch up with you guys. Go on without me."

Hayate shook his head; he wasn't going to find anything. Once they made it back to the ground, Rivalz, Milly and Shirley ran up to them. "Oh, you caught it. Thank goodness," Shirley said, smiling at Suzaku and Hayate.

"Way to go, Transfers," Rivalz cheered, pumping his fist.

Milly smiled, "The cat was carrying something, right?"

Suzaku shrugged, "Hayate was the one that found it first. When we got there, he didn't have anything on him."

Hayate laughed nervously when they stared at him, "Oh, right. Well, it must've fallen off somewhere because when I saw him, he didn't have anything either, sorry."

"Where's Lulu?" Shirley glanced around, hoping to see the raven haired boy.

Suzaku glanced around as well, "He said he forgot something and for us to go on without him."

Milly gasped in delight, "That's it; his embarrassing secret!"

"Is that what this is about, Miss President?" They all stared at the entrance of the bell tower where Lelouch appeared.

The blonde president sighed begrudgingly, "Oh. Just when I thought I had something on him."

Shirley shook her head, crossing her arms, "Lulu's always has to keep up appearances."

Suzaku turned to his friend, smiling, "Did you find what you forgot?"

"No," Lelouch shook his head, smiling back. "It must've fallen out somewhere else. I'll look for it later. I think it was some money or something."

"I'll help you look for it," Hayate grinned, wishing he could put his hands behind his head. If he did that, he knew for a fact that the mask would fall out. Lelouch nodded a bit reluctantly.

"So, do you guys know each other?" Kallen asked softly. Hayate furrowed his brow; when did she ever talk like that? Especially to him or his dad.

Lelouch and Suzaku stiffened suddenly. Nina spoke quietly through her hands, "But, he's an Eleven."

Nunnally gasped for her spot in between Shirley and Milly. Hayate smiled and wondered if she was really like this in the past. In the future, though she was almost always seated in a wheelchair, she still had the use of her legs and could see perfectly.

Suzaku frowned, "No, I just-"

"Suzaku and Hayate are my friends," Lelouch spoke over the other boy, much to their shock. "Miss President, would you allow them to join the student council?"

Hayate stiffened slightly; oh Kami, the student council. He really hoped it wouldn't be like in the future. The bad thing; Hans. The only good thing; Naoto and sometimes Guy and Mei when she came to visit.

The student council members were taken aback, yet Lelouch continued, "This school requires you to join a club. But still…"

They all stared at Milly who pondered for a bit before smiling, "How can I refuse a request from the vice president?"

Shirley smiled happily while Hayate prayed to Kami ten times over, hoping on his life that the student council was better than the future one. "Well, that settles that," Nunnally stated, rolling the chair towards them. "You three; lend me your ears."

They bent down, wondering what she was going to tell them. They were surprised when she kissed their cheeks quickly, giggling. "Nunnally," Suzaku mumbled in shock.

Nunnally continued to smile, "The reward Miss Milly promised. Since all three of you did it, you'll just have to be content with me as a half member of the student council."

Hayate grinned, "That's fine with me." He put his hand in Nunnally's gently, "Nice to meet you, Nunnally. I'm Hayate Kovac; a friend of Suzaku's and Lelouch's."

"Nice to meet you too," Nunnally squeezed his hand in greeting.

Rivalz pumped his fist, "Alright! Let's celebrate our catching of the cat! Naturally, the new guy treats us."

Shirley glared at him causing him to flinch, "Don't sponge off them." She smiled at the Kururugi boys, "I'm Shirley. It's a pleasure."

"I'm Rivalz," The blue haired boy scratched the back of his neck a bit sheepishly.

Milly stepped up, "And I'm Milly Ashford, the student council president."

The Kururugi boys grinned similarly, "Nice to meet you all." They glanced at each other in surprise before laughing it off.

After all the fuss on Arthur, all students were sent to the auditorium to watch Prince Clovis' funeral on the big screen. Hayate stood next to Lelouch, dozing off. He was glad he stood next to him, knowing he didn't like Britannians so he could catch some shut eye without someone yelling at him.

He could hear the roar of Charles zi Britannia's voice, but could not make out the words, thank Kami. He was soon startled awake by the Britannian people on the screen screaming, "ALL HAIL BRITANNIA!"

Hayate waited for the students to file out of the auditorium before he caught Lelouch's arm, pulling him away from prying eyes. "Hayate?" Lelouch asked in surprise.

The blue eyed young man glanced around before pulling out the Zero mask. He shoved it into Lelouch's hands, "Here. I assume this is yours."

Lelouch stared at him wide eyed before activating his Geass, "What-" He stopped in surprise when Hayate activated his as well.

The mixed raced boy chuckled, shutting his Geass off after Lelouch, "Trust me, I won't tell anybody. I just know things about you that no one else does." He began to walk past him before he paused, patting the other boy's shoulder, "Don't worry. I might just tell you someday."

He continued to walk away, keeping a grin on his face. Yes, he was going to like being able to pull the rug out from everyone's feet.


	4. Ichi's Arrival

**Chapter 4**

Hayate groaned happily, feeling his muscles relax under the hot water. He had gone out for a run before school started. He had woken up early and got bored a bit too easily, so he decided exercise was the best option to cure said boredom. He ran a bit more than he was used to. By the time he was in the shower, he realized how much stress this whole 'going back to the past' put on him.

He turned off the water and got out. He grabbed a towel, drying himself off. He put on his boxers before he walked out of the room to grab his uniform. He was drying off his hair when he finally looked around the room and choked on his spit, "Gah!"

Cecily stood on his bed, careful to sit a bit further away from the clothes so as to not wrinkle the uniform. "Good, you are here."

Hayate glared at her, throwing the towel on the bed and proceeded to get dressed, "What do you want? I thought I told you to leave me alone."

"I want to know what you're planning on doing," She said questioningly. "You're in the past. You have memories of what has happened to your mother, me, your father and Lelouch. I want to know what you plan on doing with it."

He pulled his arms through the sleeves of his dress shirt, giving her a sarcastic smile, "Well, though I didn't ask for any of this, I'm gonna do what I can to make sure my mom doesn't fall in love with Lelouch."

"And why would you do that? That's cruel for her."

"No, it's not," He clenched his fists tightly, leaving his blazer unbuttoned. He felt rage burn his chest and hoped he could keep it in so he wouldn't blow up at his former lover. "What's cruel is staying hung up on a man who has been dead for 21 years, no matter how good a man he was. What's cruel is when you go as far as to abuse your own son because he told you to move on and try to spend time with him."

He went to Cecily, pointing his finger at her face as he growled, "What's cruel is when your lover rather fantasize about a dead man than the man in bed with her. Don't come at me with your 'it's cruel' because I want my mom and dad back. You're only saying it's cruel because you feel that everyone should love Lelouch because he's such a great man. If you love him so much, why are you still in this room and not in his?"

He grabbed his school bag and opened the door, ready to leave when her voice stopped him, "You said you wanted your mom and dad back; does that mean-"

"It means whatever you want it to mean, Cecily," Hayate mumbled, cutting her off. He stilled his hand on the door knob. At this moment in time, he didn't know if he wanted Cecily back, if he really needed her back. Yes, at first he thought he was in love with her, but he's a 17 year old boy. He shouldn't be handling anything labeled love.

"You know the way back to Lelouch's so why don't you start walking," He said, finally walking out of the room.

…

The school day was uneventful which reminded Hayate of when Guy or Naoto would skip school because they were sick. Classes were boring and he found himself dozing off more than once in all of them. Luckily, Suzaku was the one to nudge him every time the teacher got a little suspicious.

He stretched his arms above him, yawning, "Oh gosh, I wanna go home." He smacked his lips, rubbing his eye, "I think I'll go see Artie-kun before I do though. I don't want him feeling scared with all these new faces."

When he had first met Arthur, he was 4 years old. His aunt Nunnally had introduced the two when he came over to her home with his mother. He had cried to his mother after the cat had bit his hand. Kallen only laughed and told him he was just like his father. That made him stop crying for he wanted to learn more about the man. He never questioned why the man in the mask chuckled at her statement.

After a month of constant visiting and persistent petting, the two finally got along with each other. Arthur stopped biting him and now nibbled at his fingertips. They played hide-and-seek after Hayate made the game of Arthur's meows. Other than Naoto, Arthur was his friend. It explained why he cried for week when the cat died two years later. It had been hard on him and it was the first death he had known of.

Kallen suggested another cat, but he simply wailed in protest. The man in the mask gave him a hug for the first time that day and told him that he understood; Arthur was irreplaceable. That marked the moment when Hayate started to see Zero as a hero.

Funny how things work out, Hayate thought amusedly as he walked down the hall towards the student council meeting room. He grunted when he felt another body collide with his. He put his hands out, catching the person by their shoulders.

His eyes widened when he caught sight of who was in front of him, "K-Kallen. What are you doing? I thought you were in the meeting room."

Kallen shook her head, trying to shrug off his hands. He took the hint and let go of her. She sighed with a small blush on her cheeks, "Shirley wouldn't stop pestering me about Lelouch. She thinks we're dating because her imagination is running wild. I had to get out of there."

Hayate clenched his fists discreetly, putting a small smile on for the red head, "Ah, I see." He cleared his throat, putting his hands behind his head, "You're not really with Lelouch, right?" He was sure his mother didn't even go on a date with the man. Shirley must've seen something between the two to think that.

Kallen grimaced, "No. She was just overreacting. I'd never date someone like him."

"Because he's Britannian?" Hayate grinned at Kallen's shocked expression. He snickered, "Don't deny it. You may be a Britannian too, but you don't act like them. It's a bit weird, really. Even Suzaku tries to act like one."

She seemed to get her bearings back and narrowed her eyes at him, "I don't know what you're talking about. I probably don't seem like I act like one to you because I'm so sick. I can't do much. Besides, you don't act like one either."

He nodded, walking with her to the exit of the school, "Un. I'm not really Britannian you know. I never had a problem with them until I got to this school, really. I guess I was so used to equality that I didn't expect people to be so vicious to the Japanese people."

She threw him a look a disbelief, "You had equality where you lived? I find that very hard to believe, especially after the Emperor's speech yesterday."

"My mom never had a problem with anybody since she was half-Japanese and half-Britannian," He continued, not missing the surprised glance she threw him. "My dad liked to act like he was Britannian, and that was one of the reasons my mom didn't like him very much. Their views were just too different."

Kallen snorted, smiling a bit, "She married him and had a kid with him, yet didn't even like him?"

"I never said she married him," Hayate grinned back amusedly. "A mutual friend of theirs died when they were young and it took them a while to get their footing back. One night, 4 years after their friend's death, they comforted each other the only way adults know how. 9 months after that, I was born. My mom never told me about my dad until I was 15."

The red head stared at him, "So you're-"

"Technically only ¼ Britannian," He answered with a nod. "But none of that really matters anyway. Like I said, I had equality so we were really all just regular people."

"That sounds nice," Kallen sighed lightly.

Hayate nodded once more, "It is. It's how it should be anyway." And he meant it with his whole being. His mother and father and anyone else with them should fight for peace and justice. That was his mission; to make sure they didn't fall under the whole 'I need Lelouch' spell.

…

The next few days went by boringly before the weekend finally hit. He had nothing to do, but he knew Milly, Shirley and Nina were going to a hotel. They had invited the others, but everyone else had refused. Kallen said she was going to be busy, Lelouch said he was going to spend time with his sister, Rivalz had to work, Suzaku also said he had work, and Hayate had just told them he wanted to spend the day relaxing in his room.

Hayate found himself eating pizza while watching T.V. in his hotel room. Some of the shows on the air were ones he had seen before and already knew how they ended which caused his boredom to increase. He was just about the turn off the T.V. when he landed on a news channel.

He paused, his pizza crust dangling from his mouth as the news reporter spoke almost frantically, "_Right. I'm standing in front of the Lake Kawaguchi convention center hotel. The hotel-jackers have identified themselves as the Japan Liberation Front and have taken hostage members of the Sakuradite allocation meeting. Notable among which is Chairman James as well as several tourists who happened to be there as well._"

Hayate's eyes widened; that meant the girls were there. He put his crust down, clenching his jaw as the reporter continued, "_This is footage taken by the perpetrators._" They showed the footage on the screen. "_You can clearly see Chairman James as well as several students. The leader of the criminal group claims to be Lieutenant Colonel Kusakabe, formerly of the old Japan military._"

He had to think quickly to save Shirley, Milly and Nina. He couldn't have them dying on his watch. Moreover, he didn't want them to die. He knew Milly and Nina in the future, and though he didn't know Shirley, he wanted to save them. He knew they belonged living longer than this.

He took out the power suit Genma made him; it was time to put it to good use.

…

The sky was dark by the time he got there. He waited in the air, his metal wings pushing strongly in the air. He could see the members of the group take a man to the top floor. He was restrained by ropes. He stiffened; no way. They wouldn't…

His body was already speeding through the sky before they even pushed the man off. He caught him in his arms before he could hit the ground. He lowered the both of them, putting the Britannian on the ground. He shot back into the air before the man could say anything.

He slammed his fist into the ground in front of the members of the group. They all stumbled back in shock before straightening with anger. One shouted at him, "So the Britannian pigs decided to send some back up, eh?"

Another gasped, "Hey, wait. He's got a Japanese flag on his back." He glared at the boy behind the suit, "What's wrong with you? If you're on our side, why the hell would you save that Britannian?"

Hayate took them out in less than three seconds. The suit gave him superhuman speed and strength. He crushed one of their guns, throwing it to the floor and walked away from them, "I don't make deals with people who harm others."

He walked down the hallways, taking out whoever tried to attack him. Some members just walked away when they saw what he could do. He made sure not to kill anyone; he didn't want that on his hands, especially from people who were fighting for their cause. He'd just have to knock them out for the time being.

When he realized he didn't know exactly where the hostages were, he grabbed the next member he could find. He took off his helmet and activated his Geass, "Where are the Britannian hostages and how many men are in there?"

The man answered dazedly, "Their in the food storage room on the middle floor. There are about five men, plus the Lieutenant Colonel."

Hayate nodded, "Now forget this face and knock yourself out." He put his helmet back on, deactivating the Geass.

The man nodded slowly, "Yes, sir." He used the butt of his gun and slammed it into his temple, passing out on the floor.

He continued his way down the hallway. When he got to the food storage room, he heard shouting from one of the members of the group. Anger flared in his chest when he heard the man telling three of the hostages so he could teach them a real lesson. Breathing deeply, he smashed the door in, startling the room's occupants.

He clenched his jaw tightly when he saw one man holding Nina's arm. "What the hell do you think you're doing to that girl?"

The man glared at him, dropping Nina to the floor. Milly was by her side in an instant, taking her into her arms and soothing her. "What the hell do you want?" The man snarled, pointing his gun at him.

Hayate reacted quickly and shoved his fist into the man's face. The man fell to the floor unconscious. He lifted his helmet, showing his eyes and activating his Geass. He made sure to have his back turned to the hostages.

He lowered his voice so he wouldn't give away his identity vocally, "You will obey everything I say and will not do anything unless I say it. When I snap my fingers, you will all knock yourselves unconscious and forget this face. Now get these hostages out of here as fast as you can."

The soldiers nodded promptly, their eyed red rimmed, "Yes, sir." They quickly let the hostages out of the room, rushing them towards an elevator. The others showed Hayate the way to Kusakabe.

When they got there, Zero was just walking out nonchalantly. Hayate stiffened; he couldn't look at that man. Every time he did, he would always picture his father under the mask. Zero turned to him, "Who are you? Their backup?"

"Where is the leader?" Hayate asked, avoiding the question. "Why are you here?"

"The leader and his soldiers committed suicide. They realized the pointlessness of this operation," Zero answered.

Hayate chuckled quietly; only the power of Geass could do that. He sighed, snapping his fingers. The men then smashed their guns into their temples and fell to the floor. The mixed race boy took off his helmet, smirking at the stunned Zero, "Nice to see you're doing well, Lelouch."

Zero stiffened, "Hayate? What are you doing here?"

Hayate shrugged, putting his helmet back on, "I decided to follow in my family's footsteps and fight for equality. I assume you're doing the same. Don't worry, I'm not here to fight you or the Japanese people unless they do something like this. I don't even want to fight Britannians unless I have to."

Zero nodded, "So, what happened to the hostages?"

"They're on their way out," Hayate replied. "I had the soldiers personally escort them out. I believe they did a good job under my Geass if I do say so myself."

"Please," Zero scoffed amusedly. "I'm sure they would've performed more efficiently under my Geass."

Hayate laughed in response before they were both shaken by the crumbling building. He cursed, glancing around, "What the hell's happening?"

Zero ran to the window, gazing out. He could see a giant Lancelot Knightmare falling from the sky slowly, "That white one from before…"

"Damn it," Hayate mumbled darkly, clenching his fists. That was his dad out there. What was he doing breaking the building down?

He grabbed the startled Lelouch and blasted the window. He shot his wings out and floated above in the sky. He glanced to the side where the hostages were in life boats safely. He sighed in relief.

Zero squirmed in his arms uncomfortably, "What the hell kind of suit is this? You can fly?" He shook his head, "Whatever. Take me to that building where those people wearing black are."

Hayate nodded, flying over to the building. He set Zero down and retracted his wings. He grinned behind his mask when the black wearing group stared at him in awe. Zero waved his hand, getting everyone into position.

His face soon appeared on the screen, addressing Britannia, "Do not fear, my dear Britannians. All of the hostages from the hotel have been saved. I return them to you."

Hayate snorted, but let the other boy take the credit. Really, all Zero did was make the leader and his subordinates commit suicide. He was the one who actually got them out of the hotel.

Lights were shined bright on everyone, showcasing them to the Britannians, "People! Fear us or seek us, as you please. We are the Black Knights. And this," He brought his hand out almost elegantly, in Hayate's opinion and gestured to the other suit wearing teen, "Is my accomplice, Ichi."

You've got to be kidding me, Hayate thought to himself, staring at Zero incredulously. He silently cursed the helmet for covering his expression. Ichi? Was he seriously just using numbers to name them.

Zero continued, "We Black Knights stand with all those who do not have any weapons. Whether they be Elevens or Britannians. The Japan Liberation Front cowardly took Britannian civilians hostage and then cruelly tried to execute them. No need to worry; Ichi made sure to save them all."

There's his credit.

"It was a meaningless act, so we have punished them," Zero explained. "Most are dead now since the building has collapsed. But just as I punished former viceroy Clovis. He ordered the slaughter of unarmed Elevens. We could not stand by and let this cruel action take place. And so, we mete out punishment."

Oh Kami, Hayate was about to fall asleep on his feet. No offense to Lelouch, but he really didn't like speeches of any kind.

"I will not repudiate fighting. But neither will I stand for a one-sided slaughter of the weak by the strong. The only ones who should kill are those who are prepared to die themselves. Where those with power attack those without, we will appear again. No matter how great a power our enemy possesses."

Hayate caught himself before his eyes closed fully.

"Those with power, fear me," Zero shot his arm out as he announced powerfully. "Those who have none, seek me." He shot his other arm out. "For we, the Black Knights, shall judge this world!"

After everything was said and done, Hayate turned to Zero, grabbing his shoulder, "A word?"

Zero gestured for the rest of them to go and Hayate was a bit startled to see most of his supposed family there. The taller boy turned to him, "Yes?"

Hayate sighed, crossing his arms, "Lelouch, I know that what you're doing and what I need to do is the same, but I have to warn you that there are differences between us and that may take place during one of the missions."

Zero stayed silent so he continued, "I don't like knowing that people have died for no reason. If I can help them, Britannian or Japanese, I'll do it. I fight for peace between nations. I don't just want wars. No innocent person should die for the making of peace; Britannian or Japanese."

"They might have to," Zero stated.

Hayate shook his head, activating his wings, "Like I said, therein lies our differences. I'll see you in school. Tell me when the next assignment is." He shot off into the night sky.


	5. Kozuki Family Problems

_(A/N: If you don't like where this story is going, I'd advise that you stop reading this story. I don't need any negativity throwing me into a slump. I like the way I'm writing it, so I'm sorry if you don't.)_

**Chapter 5**

_"Hayate!" The woman exclaimed happily as the boy ran up to her. _

"_Grandma!" Hayate shouted, running past his mother and into the older woman's arms. He grinned, hugging her tightly, "Hi, Grandma."_

_Kallen smiled with feigned exasperation as Ms. Kozuki ran her hand through her grandson's hair, "Hi, Mom. You doing okay?"_

_Ms. Kozuki smiled pleasantly, "I'm doing just fine, Kallen. Especially now since my grandson's here."_

_Hayate grinned widely, sticking his tongue out at his mother, "See, Grandma likes to see me."_

"_Whatever," Kallen chuckled, pretending to try and snatch her son's tongue. The boy immediately retracted it, keeping his mouth tightly closed. The red head smiled at her mother, "You sure you're gonna be able to watch him? Ohgi said he'd be more than happy to have him over."_

_Ms. Kozuki shook her head, kissing her grandson's head, "I'm sure. You barely visit since he's been born and I'm never saying no to seeing my daughter or my grandson. Now go on." She shooed her daughter out playfully. "We'll be fine."_

"_Okay," Kallen laughed. She kissed her son's forehead, "Be good for Grandma, okay, Hayate?"_

_Hayate nodded, kissing his mother's cheek. He grinned, "Yes, Mommy. I'll miss you, but I have Grandma with me now."_

_Kallen grinned back, "I'll miss you too, little guy." She shut the door and the two watched as she got in her car, waving to them once more before driving off._

_The mixed race boy turned to his grandmother, smiling widely, "So what are we gonna do today, Grandma?"_

"The Black Knights!" Hayate was jolted out of his memory when Kallen shot out of her seat and shouted those exact words. The class stared at her for a moment before breaking out into snickers at her expense.

He rubbed his bloodshot eyes, cursing Lelouch for making the missions so late at night. If there was one thing Hayate valued, it was sleeping 10 hours a day. That was natural order for him and he didn't like anyone, especially Lelouch, messing that up. From the corner of his eye, he could see the raven haired boy asleep as well.

Once class had ended, he went to the student council meeting room to check on Arthur. He had barely opened the door an inch before he was ambushed by Milly wearing…something he never thought he'd see.

He blushed brightly, turning away as Suzaku, Shirley, Nina and Rivalz were in there as well, wearing cat suits or similar to them. "What are you guys doing?"

"We're having a welcome party for Arthur," Shirley replied, taking out a cat suit for him. "Why don't you try this on?"

Hayate's blush burned fiercely as he grabbed the suit. Might as well do what they told him to; he was too tired to argue today. After he got the suit on, Shirley did his makeup. His blush never wavered as he was up close and personal with her very pretty face.

"Gotcha!" Both Hayate and Shirley turned their gaze to Lelouch who was now tied up and being held down by Suzaku and Rivalz.

"Get off me!" Lelouch exclaimed indignantly, trying to wiggle out of the restraints. "What are you doing?"

"C'mon Suzaku, hold him down," Milly commanded. They barely got the whiskers on him before Hayate burst out into laughter, embarrassing the other Geass user.

Lelouch blushed, growling, "Damn it, Suzaku! Cut it out!" He wiggled persistently in the chair he sat in. "Stop it! I demand that you stop! Hayate, shut up!"

That did nothing to soften Hayate's laughter. He pounded the floor with his fists, tears streaming down his face. Suzaku seemed like he was trying to hold in his laughter as well, "Sorry, Lelouch. It's the president's orders."

"I see you laughing at me."

"No, I'm sure that's Hayate."

"Quit moving!" Shirley exclaimed.

Kallen then entered the room, gazing at them all in disbelief. Milly turned to her, batting her paw, "Good meowning."

Kallen blinked, "Good…morning." They all stopped what they were doing and turned to the red head. "What is this?"

Rivalz tilted his head confusedly, "Didn't we mention this? It's our welcome party for Arthur."

"It's so peaceful here…" Kallen mumbled in a bit of shock.

Milly giggled, "Enjoy life while we're still free to do it."

Shirley stood straight, smiling at the other girl not in a cat suit, "Kallen, we have your stuff ready. Look." She gestured to the clothes rack next to them filled with cat suits. "To make up for all that weird stuff I said before. Which would you like?"

"What? Me too?"

Hayate snorted, covering his mouth to hold in another bout of laughter. It was one this with Lelouch because it was endlessly amusing to see the stoic teen and Zero being forced into a cat suit. It was a whole other thing to see his mother, his strong, independent, mother wearing…wearing…

He roared in laughter once more, startling the occupants in the room. Suzaku blinked, "There he goes again."

"I wonder what's so funny," Rivalz muttered to himself.

Lelouch was just glad the laughter was not at him anymore. He smirked, "Kallen doesn't need one. You already wear a mask."

Kallen glared at him, "Why don't you go on T.V.? I bet you'd be popular."

"What do you think, Miss T.V. star?" Rivalz grinned, pretending to hold a microphone in front of Shirley.

"Yeah, she'd know best," Suzaku stated.

Hayate stopped his laughter, and rubbed his sore stomach. "What?" He felt like he was missing something important.

Shirley straightened, glaring at Rivalz, "Would you quit joking about that? It's been a huge pain in the back since all that. We get followed around day and night with people asking questions. Even in the bath too."

"We haven't been able to leave the school in a week," Milly sighed exasperatedly.

"I don't see why that means we can't leave the school too," Rivalz grumbled, still keeping his hold on Lelouch's head.

Milly huffed, smirking, "That's the price of friendship. 'We ask not the same day of birth, but we seek to die together.' from _The Romance of the Three Kingdoms_."

"Is that a proposal?" Hayate rolled his eyes at Rivalz's cluelessness.

The blond batted her paw at him, "It's me saying that we die together."

Rivalz frowned, "She's so mean. Don't you think so Suzaku?"

They all stared at Suzaku in shock when they saw the tears forming in his eyes. "I'm glad," Suzaku whispered quietly. "I'm just glad we can all be together like this again." He wiped his eyes.

Rivalz jumped over Lelouch, grinning, "What's this? This is a place for laughter, right?" He wrapped his arm around Suzaku's shoulder and entwined their legs, sending them to the floor.

Everyone laughed at their antics. Shirley shrugged with a smile, "Still, that's what we like about Suzaku."

"Although sometimes we wish he'd get a clue," Milly chuckled.

"Sowwy," Suzaku tried to speak as Rivalz held his cheeks together.

Rivalz huffed, "You think this is funny?"

Hayate watched as they all laughed again. He smiled slightly, putting his arms behind his head and laid on the ground. He helped save them, and that's what he wanted to continue doing. No innocent person, Britannian or Japanese was going to die on his watch and he was going to make sure of that.

Since the incident at the hotel, The Black Knights, Zero and Ichi had become infamous. Hayate would see kids playing as the knights or putting on a mask and pretending to be Zero or Ichi. They had gotten supporters, but they were going against something big so it wouldn't matter how many Japanese people they got to help them if they were against Britannians.

…

Hayate took off his mask, sitting down on the couch of the hideout. They had completed a mission a few hours ago, and he didn't want to return to the hotel just yet.

He ran a hand through his hair, contemplating. He heard the door open and already knew who had walked in. "How are you feeling?" Cecily asked, sitting down next to him.

He rubbed his eyes, sighing. He'd have to take comfort in the one person he didn't want to see since she was the only one who knew of his situation, "I don't know what to do," He mumbled, clenching his fists. "It was around this time my grandma started using refrain to cope with all the abuse she got. I don't want her to go through that again and have to go to jail just because she wanted some way out. But if I help her, then my mom won't have the strength to fight on for my grandma anymore. I don't know what to do anymore."

He was startled when Cecily took one of his fists and eased it open, entwining their fingers. She leaned her head on his shoulder, speaking comfortingly, "You do what you think is right. I know with you already being here and knowing your father, mother and Lelouch means that a lot of things will change the future, especially since many things have already changed, but if you think that you can help make the lives of these people better in the future for the price of your own, then you should do it."

Hayate stared at the top of her head, contemplating. He did change a lot of things, according to his memories. He had saved more lives, Euphemia was supposed to already have a talk with Lelouch when he was Zero, and his father and Euphemia were supposed to fall in love.

He'd have to stop that as well. He didn't even know what to do about Euphemia since she died as well after massacring many Japanese citizens and that his father vowed to kill Zero after that since he believed it was his doing.

He'd have to make sure his mother didn't fall in love with Lelouch and maybe, possibly fall in love with his father; it didn't seem likely at this point. He'd have to make sure his father and Euphemia didn't fall in love and maybe have his father fall in love with his mother; that seemed a little easier. He'd have to make sure Shirley and Euphemia didn't die as well, mostly because he felt they didn't deserve to die. He'd have to make sure his grandmother didn't use refrain but he'd also have to make his mother see the good in her mother.

This was going to be hard; harder than anything he'd ever done before. He'd start with the basics and help his grandmother and stop Euphemia and his father from falling in love.

Hayate sighed, dropping a small kiss to Cecily's head, "Thank you." He squeezed her hand, "I still don't know what will become of us, but thank you for this."

Cecily smiled a bit sadly, squeezing his hand back, "You're welcome, Hayate."

…

The Stadtfeld mansion was something Hayate had only seen and never gone into. Kallen always told him there was nothing special in there, and he never argued with her once on that. Now it seemed like he was going to have to go in there to see his grandmother.

He blinked when he saw Milly at the door as well; why would she be there? Though he knew the two were friends, there was no way Kallen would invite anyone to her home. Well, this seemed convenient enough.

He ran up to the blond, "Oi, Milly!"

She turned to him with a surprised smile, "Hayate, what are you doing here?" She seemed to fidget a bit for some reason.

He put his hands behind his head and grinned, "Nothing much. I was just in the neighborhood. I get bored easily just sitting in my room watching T.V. I don't have the same gaming systems there so I decided to go for a walk to clear my head. What are you doing here?"

Before Milly could reply, the door opened and the two were faced with a brunette maid who smiled at them kindly, "Hello, how may I help you?"

Hayate resisted the urge to frown; his grandmother never looked like this when he was growing up. Though she never stood tall like her daughter, she never looked so frail either. He was going to have to change that.

Milly smiled back politely, "I've come here to bring Kallen something. Is she here?"

The maid nodded, "Yes, she is. Let me get her for you." She turned back inside, "Mistress Kallen! Mistress Kallen!"

Kallen walked down the stairs, staring at the two at her door in surprise, "Miss President? Hayate?"

"I just wanted to give you something," Milly stated before elbowing Hayate in the gut. "Hayate here said he wanted to accompany me because he was in the neighborhood."

Hayate winced at the attack and grinned sheepishly, "Can't leave a pretty lady by herself now, can you?"

"You sound like Rivalz," Milly chuckled.

Hayate winced; the last thing he wanted to be in this world was Guy or Rivalz. Scratch that, the last thing he wanted to be was Hans.

The maid turned to Kallen, "Where should I show them to? The parlor or perhaps the-"

Kallen sent her a dry look, interrupting her, "My room."

"As you wish."

Hayate clenched his jaw angrily. Kallen really needed the boost that came from watching her mother or else she would just treat her like this all the time. It was no wonder his grandmother started taking refrain if this was what her own daughter was like.

"Oh," A new voice said. Kallen stiffened and Hayate stared dryly at the newcomer. He never really liked her anyways. "When I heard it was a friend, I was positive it was a boy. I guess I was right, but it seems like there's one more."

Mrs. Stadtfeld narrowed her eyes at Kallen, "You come home in the morning and miss school, not to mention going out to the ghettos too. You're lucky your father is back in the homeland. There's no fighting one's blood is there?"

She sent a glare towards the maid who tentatively took a step back. Hayate noticed Milly's gaze on his grandmother and tried to discreetly pop into the house. He knew what was coming next and he didn't want his grandmother to have to face this.

Kallen glared at her step-mother, "You're the one who's enjoying father's absence, aren't you?"

The two continued to glare at each other before the staring contest was cut by a sharp gasp. Kallen, Milly and Mrs. Stadtfeld turned to Hayate who held a large vase in his hands, keeping it from falling on the ground. The maid seemed very flustered and tried to take it from him, "I'm so sorry. It's my fault."

Hayate smiled good naturedly and put the vase back in its rightful spot, "It's fine; no harm done."

Mrs. Stadtfeld scoffed, walking back up the stairs, "Honestly, you're so useless. The only thing you're capable of is selling your body."

"Come on," Kallen sighed, gesturing for Milly and Hayate to follow her. "Let's go to my room. You don't need to see this."

"That's okay," Hayate grinned causing Kallen to stare at him disbelievingly. "I'll just stay here for a while." He turned his grin to the maid, "Can't leave a pretty lady by herself now, can you?"

The maid seemed to brighten a bit while Kallen now glared at him and took Milly to her room. Hayate already knew what was going on, so he didn't really need to be brought up there. He bowed to the maid, holding his arm out jokingly, "I would love to spend time with you, Miss. If that's alright with you."

The maid seemed like she didn't know what to do before smiling slightly and showing him to the kitchen, "Would you like some tea? I'm sure Mistress Kallen already has some, but I could get you some if you'd-"

"You're Kallen's mom, aren't you?" He questioned causing the older woman to halt in her steps. "I could see it. You guys kinda look alike." He went up to her, putting his hand on her shoulder, "There's no need to worry. I won't tell anyone." He smiled, "I'm Japanese myself, if you could believe it."

She gasped, staring at him with wide eyes, "B-but, you're a Britannian student like my Kallen. You can't be…"

He shrugged, smiling, "I guess there was some equality there. My mom is half-Britannian and half-Japanese while my father is an Honorary Britannian. I'm more Japanese than Britannian." He put his hand on her shoulder again soothingly before turning on his Geass, "Which means I can understand what's going on with you, if only a little bit. If there is anything you need, let me know and I'll help you."

Ms. Kozuki's eyes were red rimmed under the control of Geass as she answered, "Actually, there is something you can help me with if you don't mind."

He nodded, keeping his Geass on, "Lead the way." She showed them up to her small room where only a bed and dresser occupied. He clenched his fists at seeing slurs and disgusting comments on the walls of the room. "How could they…"

"Would it be alright if you helped me paint the room a new color?" Even under the Geass, his grandmother smiled the same way. "I feel as if this white is too bland."

He forgot his anger for a moment and nodded, "You betcha. I'll come over tomorrow and fix it for you."

"Oh and…" She went over to the dresser, using a key to unlock one of the drawers. She opened it and showed him. "I used all of my money on this because I thought I would need it. They said it would be like the old days. I just wanted to see Kallen and Naoto again."

He felt his eyes sting with unshed tears of sorrow. He went up to her, taking her hand in his, "Please don't use it anymore. I know what you're doing for Kallen ever since your husband married again and your son died, but tell her instead of doing this. Have an honest talk with her for once. After that, throw this out."

Still under the Geass, she nodded, smiling, "Thank you, Mr. Hayate. I'll dispose of it immediately. After that, I'll have a talk with Mistress Kallen. She deserves to know the truth. Especially now since Naoto is no longer here to watch out for her."

"That's all I wanted," Hayate smiled slightly, shutting the door and walking down the stairs with her. He shut off his Geass and watched as she gazed around confusedly. He smiled politely, "I'd really like some tea now."

She nodded hurriedly, "Yes, right away, Mr. Hayate."

He followed her down the rest of the stairs, his mind in a whirlwind. He hoped this would be enough for his grandmother and mother.

…

The next day, after helping Ms. Kozuki repaint her room, Hayate took a stroll into the city. Since he had just helped his grandmother, the next thing on the list was most likely talking with Euphemia, but he didn't know how to get there just yet.

As he walked down the street in his casual clothes, he noticed a few men beating up a food vendor in the middle of the city while no one did a thing. Well, he didn't care repercussions anyways.

He walked up to the helpless man, stepping through the bullies. He smiled, ignoring the surprised and shock stares on his back, "Hello. I'd like to buy a hotdog. Can I get it with mu-"

"Hey," One of them barked angrily. "You wanna start something?"

Hayate lifted himself up, activating his Geass, "No, no. I'm fine. I'm pretty sure you were done though, right? You must get bored easily, but you guys really like coming to this stand and eating this great food, don't you?"

The men's eyes were red rimmed as they nodded, "Yeah. Let's go do something else. I got bored already. Let's get some hotdogs later too. I'm in the mood for them."

Hayate smirked, deactivating his Geass. He turned back to the man, smiling, "About that hotdog."

The vendor nodded gratefully, rushing back to his cart, "Whatever you would like." Once Hayate gave the order, he gave it to him on the house. "Thank you so much."

Hayate gave him a nod, "You're welcome." He took a bite out of the well made hotdog and bid the man goodbye. He used the food to hide his smirk when he saw Kallen stalk away from Lelouch. That went well.

…

They finished another mission having dealt with Elevens using refrain. Hayate was just glad his grandmother wasn't there. At first, he had thought the talk with his grandmother and mother never took place, but he saw the fiery look in Kallen's eyes and knew.

He knew that he was finally getting his mother back.

As he stood on the top of the hideout, he felt Cecily's presence behind him. "So you made sure your grandmother didn't take refrain?"

"Among other things," Hayate answered, taking off his helmet. "I made sure she told my mom the truth as to why she was a maid all this time. Luckily it worked and my mom has her fighting spirit back."

"What's next?"

Hayate gazed at the bright moon in the sky, "Euphemia and Shirley. Whichever comes first."


	6. Battle of Narita

_(A/N: Sorry, I realized I made some mistakes in here and had to fix them.)_

**Chapter 6**

The day had been a bit long, in Hayate's opinion. Again, they dealt with missions and then school then discussions of missions. He was beat and he just wanted to go to sleep. Once he opened the door, he let out a small chuckle when he saw a familiar face in his hotel room. He grinned, setting the box of pizza next to her, "I should've known you'd be here."

Cecily smiled, opening the pizza box and indulged on the hot meal, "Lelouch wanted me to relay a message to you."

"Really?" Hayate asked incredulously, stripping off his clothes until he was in his boxers. He sat on the bed next to her, taking the remote control from her. "He couldn't have told me when we were at the hideout?"

She rolled her eyes, leaning on him while continuing to eat her pizza, "I told him I wanted to relay this message to you. We're getting in Knightmares from the Kyoto House. Did you need one?"

He chuckled, taking a slice of pizza as well, "Nope. I got my own suit that's stronger than a Knightmare."

"Really?" She leaned up to gaze into his eyes questioningly, "Is that the one you've been using?"

He nodded, shifting an arm under his head, "Yep. I told you about Dr. Kazuki, right?" At her nod, he continued, "He didn't specialize in making Knightmares, but he tried to work on something that would be even better and smaller even. The suit that I wear is a power suit so to speak. It amplifies my strength and speed making me stronger than a Knightmare and anyone else. It also fires beams of energy that could paralyze a Knightmare."

"Dr. Kazuki's brain is something to research," Cecily mumbled, going back to lying on his chest. "Who knew only one man could make that?"

Part of him wanted to tell her to leave, but the other part of him was too tired to even argue. After he finished his slice of pizza, he wrapped his arm around her as they continued to watch the show on the screen.

"You smell like chlorine," He slurred tiredly before succumbing to sleep.

…

The Guren Mk-II. This was his mother's pride and joy when she was in the Black Knights, Hayate thought to himself. It was weird seeing it in person now since his mother said it had long been forgotten and maybe destroyed. She never knew what happened to it after it was captured.

"Incredible." Hayate-now Ichi in the suit- turned to the awe stricken Black Knights who approached. "These are Glasgow, right?"

Another answered, "They're a Japanese customized version called Burai."

"I've never seen these before."

"Man, the Black Knights have some serious power."

"It wasn't easy to join up with them."

"So that makes us the elite, huh? The elite!"

"I can't wait!"

Kent smirked a bit, "Those guys from Kyoto could even send us these?"

Ichi watched as they conversed amongst themselves once again. Really, they must've never had something this big in their lives before.

"This thing is a completely Japanese Knightmare."

"The Guren Mk-II."

"Did you see in the manual?"

"The radiant wave surger? It's an incredible weapon."

Tamaki chuckled, scratching his nose, "I love it. The big-shots in Kyoto are recognizing us in the Black Knights."

"Senpai!" They turned to one of the new voices. "I was wondering how to use this equipment here."

Tamaki ran off towards the girl, "Oh, hang on! I'll be right over."

The rest, minus Kallen, followed him with Naomi chuckling, "Newbies. What are you gonna do?"

Ichi chuckled, crossing his arms, "It's like a party for you guys, huh? Being around them is carefree, don't you think? Zero said Kyoto is a big help in backing resistance groups."

"This is still incredible," Kallen replied, smiling up at the Guren. She almost missed the key that was thrown at her. She clumsily caught it before staring, "What's this?"

"I told Zero you'd be the best one to pilot this," Ichi said, keeping his gaze forward. "He agreed easily, so the Guren is yours."

"Mine?" Kallen exclaimed in disbelief, yet she still clutched the key tightly. "But we have so many people now. And besides, we need the Guren to protect you and Zero."

Ichi scoffed, finally turning to her, "I can take care of myself. Don't underestimate me or yourself. You're an ace pilot, Kallen and I think Zero would be much better with you protecting him. And you have a reason to fight."

She stared at him once more before nodding firmly, "Yes, sir."

He waved his hand dismissively, "Everything's the way it should be. I'm gonna find Zero. If you'll excuse me."

He found Zero as Ohgi was walking away. He turned to the other masked teen, "What's going on?"

"We have Intel from one of our Britannian applicants," Zero answered, and Hayate could just imagine the smirk on his face. "We're going hiking to the Narita mountains, so I hope you're ready for this."

Narita mountains, Hayate pondered as Zero walked away. Didn't his mother say that was where many innocent lives were lost in battle with the Britannian army and the Black Knights? He'd have to stop that with everything he could. Like he had told Zero before, he didn't want innocent lives to be lost.

After that, he still had to work on his plan with Shirley and Euphemia. He'd have to devise more than some half-assed plan for this. He didn't know how long his father and the princess were together already and if they had already developed feelings for one another. Something was going to be done about that.

…

He floated above Euphemia's balcony, contemplating. He'd have to do this right if he wanted to make sure she and his father didn't fall in love like the last time, and if he didn't want her dying. He sighed mentally; things were getting more complicated weren't they?

He floated down onto the balcony, deactivating his wings. He knocked gently on the doors and waited. Soon, they were opened revealing the pink haired princess. Her eyes widened in fear at the sight of him. She opened her mouth to scream but he quickly took off his helmet, revealing his identity, "You don't have to be afraid. I'm not going to hurt you. I just wanna talk."

Her fear soon melted into shock as she stared at his face, "You-you-Suzaku-Ichi…what?"

He smirked, tucking his helmet under his arm, "I get that a lot. Maybe Suzaku and I are distant relatives or something." He held out his hand and prayed to Kami he was making the right choice. "I'm Hayate Kovac. I'm a classmate of Suzaku's. I'm also Ichi of the Black Knights, but for good reason."

Euphemia laughed breathlessly, her heart pounding against her ribcage, "O-oh yes. Suzaku has told me about you. It's nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you," He bowed, smiling politely. "It's not every day I get to meet royalty. I guess I would've met you at the hotel, but I was a bit busy taking care of the terrorists."

Her smile became a bit brighter as she remembered his first introduction, "Thank you for that. I was going to show myself but you came in and saved us. I didn't even want to think about what would've happened if I showed myself, but I couldn't let that girl get harassed like that."

"Neither could I," He replied solemnly. "It's why I stepped in when I could. She's a classmate of mine as well, and though she's scared of me for being Japanese, she's a nice girl."

The Britannian princess gasped, covering her mouth, "You're an Eleven too?"

He nodded slightly, "Only ¼ Britannian on my mom's side, but everyone just thinks I'm an Honorary Britannian like Suzaku. They didn't like us at first, but after we rescued Artie-kun, they finally warmed up to us."

"Artie-kun?" She questioned a bit amusedly.

He laughed sheepishly, scratching the back of his head, "It's a cat named Arthur. We go way back. I nicknamed him Artie-kun because he seemed to like that name more."

She beamed at him, taking his hand, "Oh, you have Arthur with you now? That's wonderful. I was wondering what had happened to him."

Hayate blushed but was able to grin, "Yeah. We had a welcoming party as well. It was great for Artie-kun. He really seemed to like it."

"Oh, you must tell me all about it."

That's how he spent the night talking with a Britannian princess.

…

He continued to visit her every night after that. He felt it was worth the few hours of sleep he got. They had a lot to talk about, and it felt nice talking to her. He couldn't really talk to anyone else at the moment. He explained to her that while he was a part of the Black Knights, he was not a terrorist and neither were his comrades. He promised on his life that he would not let innocent people die, but he would fight anyone who tried to harm him. While she didn't like it, she understood.

A couple of days later found Ichi on a mountain with Cecily next to a small hut where Zero was operating from. He could see the Black Knights coming up in their Knightmares. He turned to the green haired woman, "Are you sure you're supposed to be here?"

Cecily rolled her eyes, "Are you sure you're supposed to be here?" She shot back.

"Shut up," He nudged her gently. "You're the one who brought me here. I'm just doing what I feel is right. It may seem selfish, but I have to do this."

Before Cecily could open her mouth, Lelouch came up with his mask off, "C.C., what are you doing here?"

Cecily ignored Ichi's chuckle and turned to the raven haired boy, "I said I'd protect you, didn't I?"

"Oh, so now you're my guardian?" Lelouch quipped.

Cecily turned back to the sky, watching the snow fall, "Lelouch, why are you Lelouch?"

"I don't have time for philosophical questions."

"You changed your family name to Lamperouge but kept your personal name Lelouch," She chuckled lightly. "How soft. You can't let go of the past."

"And what of C.C.?" Lelouch retorted. "That's going too far the other way. It's not a human name."

Ichi watched as Cecily turned to him, regarding Lelouch almost coldly. He wondered why Lelouch even started calling her C.C. when she had told him her name was Cecily when they first met.

She turned back to the sky once more, smiling, "Do you know why the snow is white? Because it's forgotten what color it's supposed to be."

"Is that supposed to mean something?" Ichi mumbled to himself, ignoring the other two. He hated the way they seemed so cozy together. He clenched his fists and walked away from the two as the rest of the Black Knights came up.

Ohgi began conversing with Zero as they waiting for the battle to start. From here on, Hayate knew he had to start thinking on his feet. This was going to be a hard battle with many lives lost, but he was going to save all that he could. He knew he'd finally have to fight a Knightmare, not only that, but Cornelia's Knightmare and most likely his father's Knightmare. He had to be ready for anything.

"It's begun," Zero stated as Cornelia's Knightmare shot off towards them.

Tamaki choked in shock at the opposing forces approaching, "You've…you've gotta be kidding me, Zero. Those guys coming in have the whole place surrounded. There's no way out!"

"Ichi," Zero snapped his fingers, startling everyone. "Take care of them."

Ichi scoffed, "I'm not a dog." He shot out the suit's wings and launched into the air, the Black Knights staring in awe.

He landed on a cliff and watched as Cornelia's Knightmare took out most of their men singlehandedly. The woman spoke through the Knightmare's intercom, "Well? Cornelia is here! Is there no one who will challenge me?"

On your feet, Kozuki; Hayate thought to himself. He watched as they headed for the top of the mountain. Before he could shoot off into the sky again, he felt the ground rumble underneath him.

He cursed Lelouch as he flew down to the city. He didn't care how good a plan this was, while it took out the Britannian army it was also going to take out the lives of innocent people.

He landed in the city only a few seconds before the landslide. He used his super speed to run to one end of the city, setting up metal threads to on buildings. He held them in his hands, stretching them out from one end of the city to another, and felt the brunt of the landslide on his back. He grunted painfully, his feet digging into the floor at the force of the landslide.

The rocks dug at his back, tearing his cape. "Just…a little…longer…" He told himself, his arms and legs shaking from the exertion he was putting them through. A few minutes later, he felt the landslide come to a halt.

He sighed in relief, dropping the threads. His body hit the floor heavily. His legs felt like lead, and he was desperately trying to find the strength to move. He clawed at the floor, willing his limp legs to stand. He could see edges of his vision darken and felt the calling of unconsciousness sing him to sleep. "Damn it…" He dropped his hand to the floor weakly, closing his eyes.

"_You're my baby boy, Hayate. Of course, you're my only one."_

"_Hayate, you're my son. I'd give anything to be your father."_

"_I'm always happy when my grandson's around."_

"_You're the only one I'd give this suit to, Hayate. Take care of it."_

"_I haven't been in a relationship for a long time, but I'm glad I'm in one with you."_

"_While I don't believe in your methods, if you promise not to hurt innocent people, then I will put my faith in you."_

"_You're not my sidekick, Hayate. You're my equal. Shame on anyone who thinks otherwise."_

Hayate jolted himself back into consciousness, slamming his fist into the ground. He brought himself up unsteadily. He tensed in surprise when he felt multiple hands steady him. As he gazed around, he saw many Britannians staring back at him, giving him encouraging smiles.

He swallowed dryly, giving them a prompt nod before blasting off into the sky. He gripped the hilt of his sword, unsheathing it and activating the Sakuradite blade. He flew faster to Zero's location and slammed into the floor at the same time Suzaku's Lancelot made its entrance as well, startling both Elevens and Britannians.

He clenched his jaw tightly; he didn't want to deal with his father right now, but he'd do what he had to for this battle to end. "Viceroy, are you alright?" Suzaku spoke over his intercom. "I'm here to help."

"A.S.E.E.C.?" Cornelia asked in disbelief. "But who authorized you?"

Some of the Black Knights shot at Suzaku's Knightmare. He merely deflected the bullets with the machine's arm. Kallen shot after him on Zero's orders, catching Suzaku's kick and destroying part of his leg with her clawed hand.

He watched the two exchange and evade blows before he finally stepped in. He landed in between them, holding his arm out to stop the two. "Guren," He spoke over to Kallen on his headset, "Protect Zero. I'll take care of Lancelot."

"Ichi," Kallen's panicked voice replied. "You can't be serious. This Knightmare is faster than any of them; I can barely keep up with it. How do you expect to handle him?"

"Don't underestimate me!" He shouted back, clenching his fist and the sword in his hand tightly. "You don't want that arm of yours broken, now go."

Kallen's hesitancy was even noticeable in the Guren. She paused for a long moment before rushing off to help Zero who was evading Cornelia's desperate attacks. Suzaku tried to catch her before she ran off, but was caught by Ichi who landed on his Lancelot's arm.

"What do you think you're doing?" He hissed behind his helmet. "I said your opponent is me, so I expect your eyes to be over here."

He felt Lancelot's hand grip him around his waist. He grabbed its wrist, crunching it under his fingertips. "Nice try." He shot off into the air and sliced its arm off. He knew for a fact Suzaku was in shock at the turn of events.

"Ichi!" He heard Zero call as the rest of the Black Knights tried to escape.

He huffed, smirking, "I'll take care of this pilot. You guys go on ahead. I mean it. I can take care of myself."

Zero reluctantly left with the others quickly. Suzaku didn't even get a chance to move his Lancelot towards them before Ichi shoved his sword into the machine's torso. "I said I was your opponent, so stop getting distracted!"

He pulled the sword out and readied himself into a battle stance. Both Kururugi males froze in shock when Cecily appeared in front of them. She approached Suzaku's Lancelot, putting her hand on its leg, "You must not harm this man. He is too important to the world, to me…and to you."

Suzaku seemed to freeze giving Ichi the opportunity to release his battle stance. He approached Cecily, "What are you doing? Don't try and give him Geass."

"I'm showing him a shock image," Cecily replied promptly, keeping her hand on the Lancelot. "Go now to the others. I'll stay here and keep him distracted."

Ichi clenched his jaw, deactivating his sword and approaching the woman, "I don't know exactly what you're doing, but I can take care of my own father." He put his hand on her shoulder, trying to pull her away, "Now g-"

He choked, stiffening almost painfully as his mind was bombarded with images of Cecily's life. It wasn't like before where he got her memories of her past with Lelouch. He was seeing her and what looked like a church. There were people throwing rocks, a nun praying and Cecily bathing. The scar under her breast he always caressed after they made love was red and angry as if it had just been made.

He could hear Cecily shrieking in pain when he finally let go of her. "Damn it," He cursed, holding his head. "What the hell was that?"

Suzaku seemed to be in worse shape as he started shooting suddenly. Cecily shook her head, growling at Ichi, "What are you doing, you idiot? I was doing this to help you and you…you…you opened me."

Ichi glared at her behind his mask, blocking the debris that was falling around them, "I didn't know what hell you were doing. He may be our enemy, but he's also my dad and I didn't want you fucking with his mind. Now let's go and I'll take care of my dad."

He gripped her around the waist, activating his wings and shooting off. Once he found the rest of the Black Knights, he dropped her off and shot back off into the air before they could open their mouths.

As he flew in the air back to his father, he felt something rip through his abdomen forcefully. He coughed out blood abruptly, freefalling through the air. His body slammed into the ground a few miles away. The last thing he remembered was many faces of Britannians he had saved in the city before he blacked out.


	7. Aftermath of Narita

**Chapter 7**

_"What is this?" Kallen demanded as she stormed into Nunnally's house where she had left her son prior to going to work. She, at first, was going to leave him with Ohgi since the man liked having Hayate around and so did his son Naoto, but Suzaku had pleaded with her to leave the boy with him because he had a free day and he never got to see his son. Nunnally was fine with it because she too enjoyed Hayate's company. _

_Kallen did not, however, expect to be called out of work by Suzaku who was frantically telling her that something happened with their son. She rushed out of work and drove all the way to Nunnally's house. When she arrived, she was greeted by the sound of her son's sniffles and Suzaku's gentle soothes though he still had his mask on._

_She had walked to doorway to get visual and saw Hayate sitting in Suzaku's lap, his left arm in a sling and bandages around his head and knee. The Kozuki boy glanced at the doorway and sobbed anew, holding out his uninjured arm, "Mommy!"_

_She ran over there, taking him into her arms and rocking him to soothe his harsh sobs. She glared at Suzaku, "What happened?"_

_Suzaku fidgeted, trying to hide his fright from the angry mother, "We were playing catch and the ball got stuck in a tree. I went to get another one and when I came back, he was one the floor crying. I only took my eyes off him for a second and I-"_

_Kallen groaned, running her hands through Hayate's hair, "Kami, I knew he'd get in trouble, but I didn't think it would be this bad. Gosh…" She inhaled deeply, trying to calm her racing heart. She glanced down at her son, seeing his now sleeping face, snot and tears all over her shoulder. What was she going to do with him? Was she even ready for this?_

_She shook her head, gazing at Suzaku, "What are you gonna do, right? Boys will be boys."_

Hayate opened his heavy eyelids to an unfamiliar ceiling. He tried to recap what had happened in his head as he glanced around. The Battle of Narita. Saving the city. Fighting Suzaku's Lancelot. Something with Cecily. He passed out after that, but why? All he remembered was pain ripping through him then darkness.

He began to sit up before yelping in pain when his side protested adamantly. He clenched his jaw tightly, gazing down his body. He found a bandage on his side with a spot of blood in the middle. Was he…shot? By who?

"Oh, you're up." He blinked confusedly at the unfamiliar voice and moved his gaze to the door, seeing a dark haired man standing there with a wide smile. "My wife said you'd be out for more than a few days. I didn't expect it only to be two days, but you're a strong young man."

As Hayate stared at the man who was now walking towards him, something finally snapped in his mind as he realized who the man was. "Y-you're Joseph Fenette," He stuttered, trying but failing to sit up, "You were one the news when your daughter was caught by the terrorists."

Joseph nodded, passing the boy a glass of water, "Yes, and you saved her. Thank you for that, by the way. We Britannians must not seem all that grateful, but I am forever in your debt."

Hayate gulped down the water, shaking his head, "I was just doing what I thought was right. I know the Black Knights may seem like terrorists but we're not. We help both Britannians and the Japanese. That's why I saved everyone in Narita. You're all innocent people and didn't deserve to die."

"Thank you again, Hayate," Joseph smiled, putting his hand on the younger male's head. "I am so happy that I have more days with my daughter and wife, and it's all thanks to you."

Hayate froze, staring up at the man with wide eyes, "Ho-how…?" There was no way Mr. Fenette knew who he was. Hayate didn't hang out with Shirley and her father never made an appearance. There was no way he was found out that easily unless-

The mixed race boy winced, holding his side as he tried once again to sit up, "W-where am I? How do you know who I am? What happened? What's going on?" He shouted when pain flared through his whole abdomen, sending him back on the bed.

"Whoa, okay," Joseph breathed, standing from his chair abruptly. He knelt beside the bed and rubbed the younger's back. "After the whole thing at the Narita Mountains, you were shot down by one of the Britannians. We don't know did it yet. You landed in the city. Princess Euphemia found me and told me she'd take care of you. She was the one who told me who you were."

"Euphemia," Hayate ground out behind his gritting teeth. His side was still throbbing, but he could feel the pain haze over his brain dissipate. He swallowed dryly, glancing at the man, "Where am I then? Please don't tell me I've been taken hostage."

Joseph shook his head frantically, holding his hands up to placate the boy, "Oh, no, no, no. Her Highness told me to take you in so that no one else would be looking for you. My wife, she's a doctor, she's the one who patched you up. She said it would take a week for you to get back to normal."

Hayate grunted, finally sitting up with the help of the other man. He forced a smile on his face despite his body quivering in pain, "Thank you, but I have to go. I'm sure someone must be looking for me. I'm very grateful for this, but I can't stay here for a week. I have school and, as you know now, things to do. So please."

He pushed past Joseph and got to his feet weakly. He gritted his teeth tightly against the pain pulsing in his body. Before he could reach the doorknob, the door opened revealing Euphemia and what he assumed was Mrs. Fenette.

"Hayate!" Euphemia exclaimed worriedly, grabbing him by his arms. She was blushing a bit as she stared at him. It was then he realized he was in only his boxers which was not something she was used to. "W-what are you doing? You need to lie back down. You're not in any condition to be moving."

"I have to go," He protested faintly, trying to shake her arms off. "People are going to be looking for me, and-" He tensed felt a sharp prick in his neck. He suddenly felt lightheaded and couldn't keep up with the room suddenly spinning before him.

"Hayate." Was the last thing he heard before he hit the floor, blacking out.

.

When he came to, he found Euphemia placing a towel on his forehead. She gasped in shock when she saw his eyes open, "Hayate! You're awake!"

"Seems so," He slurred, still disoriented from the drug Mrs. Fenette gave him. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be going back to your place? Cornelia is going to be worried and angry that you're helping me."

Euphemia smiled, "I told her I was taking walk. I also had to distract the bodyguards to get here without anyone alerting her."

"I'm honored you went through so much to see me," Hayate joked, giving her a fatigued grin. "But I really do need to go. How long has it been since everything at Narita anyways?"

"Almost a week," She answered, taking the towel off and putting it on the nightstand next to the bed. "Zero and the Black Knights have gone out again. Unfortunately, my sister intercepted them. They made it out alive, but I'm sure they needed you there."

He swallowed, moving his gaze away from her, "Yeah, I guess." He sighed lightly. "I don't even know if they're looking for me. Only two people in the Black Knights know my identity, but there's no way they'd be actively looking for me without spilling the beans."

Euphemia smiled once more, helping him sit up, "Well, if you think you can stand on your own two feet without collapsing, I'll let you go back to school."

"Let me?" Hayate snorted amusedly. He inhaled deeply, trying not to wince at the movement of his wound. He shifted his legs off the bed slowly and finally stood up. He felt his wound throb underneath the bandages, but it was a pain he could easily overcome.

He took a few steps forward, feeling sweat form at his hairline. He chuckled breathlessly when he heard Euphemia clap behind him, "Congrats. I guess you really could pull through."

Hayate panted lightly, "Well, I guess I can go back to school now." He turned to her when she approached. He took her hand in his and squeezed it. "I want to thank you, Euphemia. You didn't have to tell anyone to take me in. You could've turned me in, but you didn't, so thank you."

He smiled brightly and as he turned away, he did not see the blush that was slowly forming on her face. She cleared her throat softly, "I patched up your suit. It's with your other belongings."

"Thank you," He replied lightly. "Euphy."

…

He made it to school the next day, already feeling the pain throbbing in his side. He had hoped it wouldn't act up just yet. He had barely made it to the meeting room and he could already feel his conscious going to sleep.

Before leaving the Fenettes, he had thanked them for taking care of him to which they replied that they were just returning the favor since he had saved Shirley and Joseph. He had asked them not to tell Shirley, and that maybe he would tell her someday. They told him they understood and he was on his way, but not before they made him promise to visit.

With as much power as he could muster, he opened the door to the student council meeting room and was greeted to the sight of Nina, Milly, Shirley, Kallen, Rivalz, Suzaku and Nunnally. He blinked when they all gasped at the sight of him, "What?"

Rivalz and Suzaku ran up to him, throwing their arms around his shoulders, "Hayate!" They exclaimed happily. The mixed race boy gritted his teeth against the pain as the other boys practically left their weight on him. "We missed you."

"Missed you too," He choked out, trying to blink away the dark corners that crept around his vision. "Can you please let go now?"

He inhaled deeply when they did as he asked, trying to get the pain off his mind. It was getting worse and worse as the day wore on and he didn't know if he could handle it anymore. The whole reason he came up to the meeting room was so he could relax. After all, now and in the future, they never did such a lot of work anyways. Sally always said they should enjoy life as much as they could and working too hard would just ruin everything.

Hayate resisted the urge to grab his side once he got the pain under control. He didn't want to upset the stitches and he also didn't want Suzaku to become suspicious. If he knew that he and Ichi were one in the same…well, he didn't want to know the outcome of that. His father already thought they were terrorists and hated them without even letting them explain themselves. He'd have to sit the man down and explain everything someday.

The Kozuki male was not ready when Shirley suddenly grabbed him in a tight, bone crushing hug. He only got to make one small noise of surprise before he blacked out from the pain roaring in his abdomen. For now, he'd let everyone think that he wasn't used to getting hugs from girls. He'd be embarrassed about it later.

When he came to a few minutes later, Shirley apologized profusely while blushing. Milly looked mischievous, Suzaku looked as confused as Nina, Kallen was simply shaking her head, Rivalz was laughing up a storm, and Nunnally was simply smiling at him. Yep, this was the relaxing nature he was talking about.

After the meeting was over, Hayate was one of the last one's out of the school since his pace was so slow. All he wanted to do was collapse again but this time on a bed. He resisted the urge to jolt when he felt someone grab his arm. He blinked down at Shirley who smiled at him, "You seem like you're in pain. Do you need any help?"

He blushed a bit, smiling faintly, "N-no, that's okay. I guess I just need some sleep. I've been feeling really exhausted lately."

Shirley nodded understandingly, "I see. Well," She suddenly fidgeted and let go of his arm. She bit her lip before gazing into his eyes determinedly, "Would you like to hang out with me this weekend?"

His blush darkened. He laughed nervously, "U-uh, s-s-sure. I mean, yes. Yes, I would love to hang out with you this weekend."

Shirley smiled brightly, "Great. We'll meet in the city at noon. I'll see you then."

Hayate watched her go with wide eyes. He didn't know what it was with her, but he always felt his face heating up around her. He rolled his eyes, scratching his flaming cheek; his mother would have a field day with this.

…

He kept fingering the stitching on his suit. It felt weird now. He wondered if Genma would get angry if he found out his suit was damaged in battle. Even Genma himself had been disappointed when he realized the suit would never get to see a battle. The scientist would be immensely happy if he got to see it action no doubt.

Luckily for Hayate, flying was much easier than walking. His side had only protested when he first flew into the air, but it felt fine now. He felt a throb when he landed, but ignored it. He knocked on the door to the hideout and waited patiently. A moment later, the door opened to a beaming Naomi, "Ichi, you're alive!"

He smiled behind his helmet and walked in, "Yeah. I just hit a rough patch after the battle. Is everyone here?"

Naomi nodded happily before rushing to where everyone else was at, "Everyone, it's Ichi! He's alive!"

Soon, the Black Knights followed Naomi and cheered jovially at the sight of their co-leader. Ichi put his hands up quickly when one of the newbies tried hug him, "Whoa, whoa, whoa. I can't take much more hugs. My stitches might pop out and they're already burning me right now, sorry."

"So you really did get hit by something," Ohgi commented with a frown on his face. "We assumed you were injured since you didn't come back after the battle. What was it that hit you?"

"I was shot," Ichi replied promptly, sitting down next to Kent. He fingered his stitches again. "I landed in the city and when I came to, I had a woman patch me up. Don't worry; she knows nothing of my identity. I made sure of that."

He didn't want to reveal who had taken him in. They'd probably think he was a spy for Britannians if they found out Euphemia took him in and made sure he was taken care of.

Tamaki laughed boisterously, "We're just glad you're okay, Ichi. Zero has been cold without you here." He smacked his back roughly.

Ichi yelped at the push, holding his side in agony at the wave of pain that descended upon him. "Ichi!" Kallen called as they all stared at him worriedly.

"Are you alright?" Zero walked down the stairs with Cecily. Hayate wondered if he was worried about him or not.

He nodded, sitting back up. He patted Tamaki's arm, "Sorry about that. It was just unexpected."

Tamaki barely bobbed his head in acknowledgement before Zero began speaking again, "You said you were shot. Do you know who it was?"

"No," He shook his head, clenching his jaw. "It hit me through the back, so I didn't catch sight of who it was."

"I see," Zero spoke lowly.

Hayate didn't want to even think about who shot him. If it was Cornelia or a soldier, he'd understand and would continue on like he usually did. But when he had left to put Cecily with Zero, Suzaku's Lancelot was going crazy and shooting randomly. Could it have been him? He didn't think so. That was some random shot if it was. He didn't want to think it had been his father. He wouldn't know what to do if it was him.


	8. Encountering Conflict

**Chapter 8**

_Today is a good day, Hayate thought as he walked towards the kitchen where his mother was making breakfast. The birds were singing, the sun was shining, it was a warm day, and he finally had sex with Cecily the day before._

_For the first time in his 16 years of living, he felt free as a bird. He had a huge grin on his face and a skip in his step. Nothing could possibly ruin this feeling. The good thing was that Cecily told him she enjoyed it and wouldn't mind doing it again. Oh yeah, he wouldn't mind either._

"_Look at you," Kallen joked when her son finally came down for breakfast. "Someone had a good sleep."_

_Hayate sat down, putting his arms behind his head and grinning, "You could say that." A really good sleep, he mused._

"_Or," She began, putting his breakfast in front of him. "You asked Sally out on a date finally."_

_He sputtered, feeling his neck heat up uncomfortably, "No! And what do you mean; finally?"_

_He should've known his mother wanted him to get with one of his friends. She had first suggested Mei, but she already had a boyfriend, and she always said she never went for younger guys. Kallen would've liked to have Ohgi officially part of the family. She then suggested Amy, but said girl never showed an interest in him. Sally was next and that was the one she could actually see._

_Hayate had thought Sally had feelings for him since Naoto had told him and Guy almost cried when he agreed with the other boy. He had always found her pretty, but he never really thought of her that way. She was a great friend and it was nice being around her, but there was no spark. He used to believe that the spark never existed, but that was before he met Cecily._

_Kallen smiled, ruffling his hair before sitting down across from him, "Well, I thought you always liked her. You are always with her when you're out with your friends."_

_He rolled his eyes, "Boys and girls can just be friends, Mom. The only reason people say they can't is because they're attracted to their friends. Sally's great and all, but I don't see her that way."_

Hayate rubbed his hands together as he patiently waited for Shirley to show up. She had only told him she would meet him in the city at noon but she never specified what they were going to be doing.

A part of him didn't even know why he accepted. Sure, he wanted to get to know her since she was one of the people who died young and he never knew about her growing up, but from what he could tell so far; she was fully infatuated with Lelouch.

He mentally rolled his eyes at that; he really didn't see what all the other girls saw in him. He wasn't funny, he wasn't fun to be around, all he did was talk about himself, Nunnally, or brood over Suzaku. Maybe when all this was over, he'd be a bit better, but he wasn't going to be here all that long.

"Hayate!" He glanced up at Shirley walking towards him, waving her hand in the air. He felt his stomach flutter when she smiled widely at him, "We're you waiting long?"

Hayate stumbled, trying to use his heavy tongue to form words, "I…no…I-I don't…" He scratched the back of his head, feeling his cheeks heat up. "I don't really know. I've been daydreaming this whole time."

Shirley brought a hand up to cover her mouth as she giggled, "Well, I guess that's good. Now," She looped her arm through his, tugging him down the street. "Let's get some lunch. I know this great café. I don't know if you've been there before."

Hayate later found out that he had been to the café before. Sally and Amy would drag him there sometimes after school and spend all day chatting. They would make him pay sometimes which made no sense, but he never liked arguing with the girls.

He and Shirley spent the whole lunch talking about school and how they saw their friends. He already knew that she was jealous of Kallen and thought the red head and Lelouch were going out. She ranted on how Lelouch could be cruel sometimes and even canceled on her when she had asked him out once which furthered her suspicions about him and Kallen.

He shook his head as they walked along an almost empty road, putting his hand in hers and squeezing it, hoping to send some kind of comfort. While his gaze was on their hands, he missed the blush staining her cheeks. He smiled, "I don't think you should spend so much time pining after Lelouch."

He held his free hand up to stop her before she could protest, "I'm not saying to give up on him, but if he's not noticing you, you shouldn't waste your time trying to make him. Be yourself and stop having your happiness rely on whether he talks to you or not. You deserve better."

Shirley gazed at him in awe, but before she could open her mouth once more, an unfamiliar chuckle cut through them, "Well, since Zero always does the talking, I never knew Ichi could say such deep words."

Hayate stiffened, tightening his grip on Shirley's hand as he glared at the silver haired man in front of them, "Who the hell are you? What are you talking about?"

The man with a visor covering his eyes grinned and clapped, "I always wonder how such deceivers can have friends. Right, Hayate Kozuki?" He smirked when Hayate glared at him. "Or do you go by Hayate Kururugi? I know you only go by Ichi when you're in that suit."

Hayate clenched his jaw tensely, feeling a bead of sweat roll down his cheek, "I don't know what you're talking about."

The man tilted his head towards Shirley who was clutching Hayate's hand fearfully, "Did you take him on this date because he saved your father's life? Well, I hope he liked it," He suddenly sneered at the other male, "Because he's going to die here and now."

This guy's insane, Hayate thought to himself when the man clapped once more. He hoped Shirley didn't think anything of what the man was saying, but he did wonder how he knew all of that. He hadn't said anything to anyone and the only people who knew of his identity hadn't said anything about him so far. So how did this guy know?

He let go of Shirley's hand, startling her, "Hayate-"

"Go," He ordered, keeping his eyes on the man in front of them. "I need you to go. I don't know what he's capable of but I'll handle it."

Shirley bit her lip, tears stinging her eyes. She gripped the back of his shirt, whispering, "What he's saying…is it true? Did you really-"

"Shirley!" He exclaimed hastily. He clenched his fists and gritted his teeth, "I'll explain everything to you later, but for now, I need you to go somewhere safe. So please, go."

With much reluctance, Shirley ran from the scene. Hayate sighed in relief before dropping into a fighting stance and regarding the silver haired man, "What the hell do you want?"

"Your life," The man snarled, dropping his visor and revealing his Geass which were lit up on both eyes. "For many reasons too."

"Why? I don't even know you. What could I have done to anger you so much?"

The man growled at him, "You're not even supposed to be born yet, but you still walk around this city and treat these people like you know them; like you have nothing to hide. You think you're higher than everyone else because of what you know and what you have. You put on that helmet and suit and act as if you're god."

"That still has nothing to do with you," Hayate retorted, wondering if he should activate his Geass. Even though the man had his on, he didn't seem to be using it just yet. "And how the hell do you know all this stuff?"

"The same reason you know all this stuff," He smirked. "Because of C.C." He clapped when the other male stiffened again. "I've known C.C. for a long time, and yet when I came across your mind, I realized that you seem to know her better than me, and I can't stand for that. C.C. is mine."

Came across his mind? He could read minds, the mixed race boy realized. That's how he knew everything about him. Cecily, or C.C., was the one who gave him the Geass, and she must've known him for awhile for him to fall in love with her.

He mentally winced at that thought. If this man was in love with her and he could read minds, then he must've found out that he and C.C. were lovers. Crap, he thought, things were not looking up. He also realized he wouldn't be able to fight to his full potential because of the stitches in his side. Worst of all, he didn't have his suit so he couldn't call the Black Knights without looking suspicious.

He breathed deeply, trying to calm his runaway mind. "I don't really care what you say about C.C." The name almost felt foreign on his tongue. Ever since he had been here, he had never addressed her with that name. "She's not mine and she's certainly not yours. Attacking me won't really get you anywhere."

The silver haired man shouted angrily, charging at him. Hayate was able to dodge most of his blind attacks, but he could already feel his side throbbing relentlessly in pain. He wasn't going to be able to hold on for long.

He threw a swift punch to the side of the man's face, knocking off the headphones he wore. As he was about to throw another, he halted when he heard a voice come from the headphones, "_I understand, Mao. Don't worry, Mao. I'm not going to die, Mao. Mao! Mao!_"

"Cecily…?" He mumbled before howling in pain when the man, Mao, kicked him in his stitches. "Agh!" He fell to the floor heavily, holding his side. He grunted through his gritting teeth, "You have to listen to her voice because you can't turn off your mind reading, huh?"

"Shut up!" Mao shouted angrily, clutching his ears to desperately stop the voices barging into his mind. "I don't want to hear you!"

That was the last thing Hayate saw and heard before he blacked out from the exhaustion and pain falling over him.

When he came to, he was faced with Shirley and, surprisingly, C.C. who was dressed in civilians clothes for once. He blinked rapidly before sitting up. Shirley gasped worriedly, holding onto his shoulders, "Hold still, Hayate. You don't want to upset your stitches again."

"I would take her advice if I were you," C.C. drawled from her seat next to the bed. "We found you passed out in the middle of the city. Any idea why?"

"That man," He grumbled, rubbing his eyes with the heel of his hand. "His name's Mao, I think. He was after me because of my connection to you. He was able to read my mind to find out about it."

He could see the green haired woman stiffen at the name that he had spoken. She sighed heavily, shaking her head, "I would've never thought he'd be here. He's most likely looking for me, and just stumbled upon your mind."

He gave a small nod before gazing around, "Where am I, anyways?"

"Base," C.C. answered, and as he looked around, he realized he was in the room where the Black Knights always met.

He turned to Shirley who still looked confused at the situation. He cleared his throat, "Cecily, can you give us a moment? I need to talk to Shirley privately."

C.C. narrowed her eyes at him, "And what do you need this moment for?"

"Why do you care?" He shot back, glaring at her. They continued to glare at each other for a few moments before C.C. frowned and walked out of the room.

He inhaled lightly, shaking his head. He smiled, trying to soothe the tense girl in front of him. She must've been overwhelmed from everything that had happened. "I'm sorry about what happened. I honestly didn't think that man would show up and ruin everything."

Shirley swallowed before shaking her head, "I-it's fine. It's just…" She exhaled shakily. "Everything he said…is it true? Are you really…?"

He bit his lip, contemplating. A part of him wanted to tell her. Before he had came to the past, at this point in time, her father was already dead and he was sure she had found out about Lelouch being Zero. Things went downhill from there for her. She didn't deserve that, but he didn't really know if she needed to hear everything about him.

He frowned, "Do you really want to know; what I really am? It's gonna be a shock to you no matter what way I say it."

"I…" Shirley paused, clenching her fists over her legs. "I don't know, but I thought we were friends. I mean…to hide something like this…"

Hayate shook his head, sitting up straight, "I am Ichi." He continued on even after she stared at him in shock. "I'm also the son of Suzaku Kururugi and Kallen Stadtfeld."

Now the orange haired girl was gaping, "Wh-wha-what? You can't be. You're the same age-you-you can't be…"

"I am their son," He repeated before pointing at his face. "You know how people thought him and I were brothers because we look so much alike? Yeah, my mom, Kallen, would always tell me I looked just like my dad, Suzaku, but with her eyes."

She stared into his eyes for a long while before finally slumping her shoulders, "So you're…"

"From the future," He nodded in confirmation. "I was born 2022. There was a lot of complications that I didn't know about until I was 15."

"So why are you here?"

He glanced at the door, wondering if C.C. was still there. He shrugged, "Freak accident, I guess. Trust me when I say this though, a lot has changed since I've been here. For one, Princess Euphemia was the one who saved Nina at the hotel before Zero came. Ichi never existed obviously. Your father died in the Battle of Narita during the landslide."

She gasped, her eyes filling with tears. She shook her head rapidly, "But he didn't. He's still alive because-"

"Because I saved him and everyone in the city," He cut in softly. "Your father was an innocent life that wasn't supposed to be taken, so I saved him. Like I said, so many things have changed since I've gotten here and hopefully for the better. Your parents actually took me in after I was injured and took care of me. They know I'm Ichi too, but they don't care."

She wiped her eyes, sniffling, "So why are you here exactly?"

"Because of my parents," He answered lowly. "When I was born, my dad had done something a long time ago and couldn't be my father fully. My mom never really thought anything of it until I was a teenager. It was because of something that happened when they were teens that they couldn't be together and I wanted to change that."

He frowned, rubbing his forehead, "I know my parents love each other. I know they do, but they couldn't let go of the past. That's why I came here; to help them let go of the past. It wasn't until I was here that I realized how much harder it was going to be. There are way more obstacles that I have to go through before I can help my parents."

Shirley continued to stare at his slumped form before throwing her arms around his neck and hugging him tightly to her. Hayate blushed when his face was inadvertently shoved into her bosom. She ran her hand through his hair, whispering, "Thank you. Thank you for saving my father and thank you for telling me this."

The mixed race teen swallowed dryly, clearing his throat, "You're welcome. I trust you, you know. And now you know that we're not terrorists. We're just trying to get equality for everyone."

She nodded, releasing her hold on him, "I know that. I never thought Ichi was a terrorist. Though the Black Knights seemed scary, they were still kinda cool." She smiled, "Don't worry. I won't say anything to anyone. Though, I'm sure more people would find you cool if they knew that."

He grinned, laughing. He hoped he made the right decision in telling her everything. It would also feel better to talk to someone other than C.C. Euphemia only knew he was Ichi and nothing more. This was a bit of relief that he needed.

They turned their gaze to the door when C.C. entered the room again, "Now that you're done. We need to talk about Mao." At his nod, she went on. "You may be his target because of your relationship with me, but he wants me."

"Kinda figured," Hayate rolled his eyes. He turned to Shirley, smiling apologetically, "Sorry about this. I guess duty calls." He stood up, offering his hand, "Maybe we can hang out again?"

"I'd like that," Shirley smiled before pressing a kiss to his cheek. Her cheeks were red and he assumed they were just as hot as his. "I'm gonna go call my dad. I'll see you in school, Hayate."

He waved to her as she walked out. He didn't realize how stupid he looked until he saw the sour look on C.C.'s face, "What?"

She shook her head, sitting down, "I hope you made the right choice in telling her. Lelouch had erased her memories of him when she found out Zero's identity."

"I'm not Lelouch," He grunted, sitting down next to her. "So, Mao is after you because what? You abandoned him after giving him Geass? Isn't that a bit harsh?"

C.C. huffed, glancing away, "He didn't live up to the expectations he set for himself. I did what I had to."

"But I guess Lelouch lived up to everything, didn't he?" He glared at her. "I guess Mao just wasn't someone you were in love with, right?"

"You know nothing," C.C. stated lowly, glaring.

He waved his hand, frowning as he walked towards the door, "I don't care about you or Mao. I've already told Shirley everything about me, so I'm not worried about anything. You can go take care of Mao if you want, but I won't attack him unless he hurts innocent people. I have no connection to you other than these eyes, so he shouldn't be after me."

"Hayate!" She called, but he was already out the door.

He clenched his fists tightly, feeling the small pricks of pain coming from his nails puncturing his skin. He didn't still didn't know what he wanted with Cecily anymore. At some points, it was like they were back in the future, only caring about each other. Other times it felt like she really was Lelouch's property and he hated that because he knew she didn't care if she was because she loved him. He hated how low anyone would go for him.

He released a haggard breath when he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He took it out, blinking at the screen, "Euphemia?" He answered it uncertainly, putting it to his ear. "Hello?"

"_Hayate?_" Came Euphemia's soft voice.

"What is it?" He asked. Why did she feel the need to suddenly call him? He hadn't seen her in a few days. "Did you need something?"

A sigh. "_Cornelia and the council are saying I need a knight to protect me because of what happened during the hotel incident and at the Narita Mountains. They say I should be protected at all costs._"

"So?" He questioned as he walked towards the hotel.

"_I don't know who I should choose,_" She mumbled sheepishly. He had to grin at her adorable voice. "_Unfortunately, I can't say Ichi because he's supposedly a terrorist, but I don't trust anyone else._"

He swallowed dryly; this was when her feelings for Suzaku grew. It was just after he became her knight that they became closer to one another. He had to stop that. He had to think of something.

He cleared his throat, "Just tell them to hold off for a while. Nothing has happened and if anything does, just say there are plenty of guards around you. You don't need a knight, and even if you do, I promise I'll protect you no matter what."

It was quiet for a beat before she whispered, "_Thank you, Hayate._"

He grinned lightly, "Anytime, Euphy. I should get going though. I'm a bit tired. Good night."

"_Good night._"

After they hung up, he made it to the hotel. He went up to his room and, after checking on his suit, fell asleep. He was out once his head hit the pillow.

.

The next day, he spent his lunch with Shirley who had a lot of questions for him. He was happy to answer them if he felt like he could. When the others found out they weren't spending lunch with them, they had all reacted differently.

Milly was the most surprised. Lelouch was indifferent. Rivalz seemed like he was wondering what happened. Nina was a bit confused. Suzaku and Kallen looked like proud parents for some reason. He wondered if it was because they knew of Shirley's feelings for Lelouch but were happy she was moving on.

The orange haired girl tapped her chin as she chewed on her sandwich, "So, the Black Knights aren't terrorists?"

The mixed raced boy chuckled amusedly, shaking his head, "No. Like I said, we fight for equality. Most Britannians see us as terrorists because they don't see equality as an option. They like being at the top of the pyramid."

"But you still save Britannians."

"I only save innocent people," He clarified, taking a swig of his soda. "I don't like to label people because in the future we actually have equality because the Japanese and Britannians had a common enemy."

Shirley tilted her head curiously, "Was it some kind of monster?"

"I guess you can say that," Hayate shrugged. "It was something big though. My parents never told me much." He lied; they told him Lelouch had pretended to be the enemy of everyone so people could band together and defeat him. He was just afraid that if he said that, Shirley would fall right back in love with him.

"How long is it from now?" She asked in a mumble.

He leaned his head on his hand, tapping a finger to his cheek, "I think a year or so, give or take. My mom said it happened when she was 18."

"I'm really glad you say my mom instead of Kallen," She stated with a teasing smile. "It's hard to see her and Suzaku as parents at their age."

He chuckled, shaking his head, "I know. Imagine my surprise when I first met them. They really are different than their future selves."

Shirley laughed and they continued talking till class started again. After classes were over, he walked her to her room before bidding her a goodbye. It wasn't until he got back to his hotel room that he felt a sort of hollowness in his stomach.

He clenched his fists, contemplating. Lelouch had told him C.C. was being very aloof and distant towards him and while he wouldn't have cared, he knew it was because she had Mao on her mind. He cursed himself mentally as he began to get his suit out; when was that woman going to learn?

After flying from the roof of the hotel, he tried to pinpoint exactly where she would be. That was the hardest part; she never went out anywhere. Even in the future, she stayed in her small little home and just ate takeout. She never had a place she went to more than once.

He blinked when he saw Clovisland suddenly light up with power. The place had closed already, so who was powering it right now? He bit his lip thoughtfully; he'd have to go on a hunch. He flew down quickly, hoping to find nothing.

When he touched down on the floor, he could see Mao standing over C.C., gun in his hand while the green haired woman clutched at her wounded shoulder.

He stood rigidly as Mao grinned happily, "See, I knew you would shoot me. You love me after all, C.C." He laughed almost maniacally, clapping his hands despite the gun in one of them.

"You're wrong!" C.C. exclaimed hastily. "I was just using you!"

The silver haired man stopped his laughter, frowning, "What are you saying? You shouldn't lie, you know." He lifted up the gun once more.

Hayate reacted instinctively, rushing towards the mad man. He smacked Mao's hand away, trying not to flinch at the gunshot that filled the air. Mao hissed hostilely towards the other male in front of him, "Ichi."

"I don't care what you think, Mao," Ichi stated, holding onto the man's arm tightly. "I can't let any harm come to C.C. You say you love her, yet you're going to these lengths. Is this some kind of revenge?"

Mao shook his head rapidly, whining, "No, no, no, no, no! I just want us to be together! Just the two of us in the world! Why are you interfering? You said C.C. wasn't yours."

"That doesn't mean she's yours." He tightened his grip on the arm he held. He saw Mao wince at the pressure. "She has her own master, and that's neither me nor you, so leave her alone."

"I can't!" Mao screamed crazily, grabbing onto Ichi's other wrist and squeezing. "You don't understand! I need her, so get out of the way!"

Ichi's eyes widened in panic when he felt Mao's hand press on the small cannons on his wrist, "Hey, wait-"

A pink blast shot out of the cannon, hitting Mao in the abdomen. The silver haired man choked in shock, his grip loosening on the gun and Ichi's wrist. He crumbled to the floor lifelessly in front of them.

Hayate's hands trembled as he took in the sight before him. He couldn't have…he didn't want this. Mao was crazy but he hadn't hurt anyone yet. He was just crazy…he didn't want to-to…

"Hayate," C.C. whispered, grabbing onto his shaking hand. "It's alright. It wasn't your fault. He did this to himself."

He whimpered silently, ripping off his helmet. He slumped to the floor, covering his face as he sobbed, "I didn't mean to…"

C.C. shushed him, wrapping her arms around him despite the pain that flared in her shoulder. She ran her fingers through his hair, trying to sooth him, "Everything's alright. Everything's okay. Just relax."

He choked out gibberish into her shoulder as he tried to the horrible feeling growing in his chest. Though in his mind, he realized that it wasn't his fault, he couldn't help but revert to a 5 year old knowing that it was his weapon that had caused a man's life to end.

"I didn't want to…I didn't…" He babbled into her shoulder, holding onto her waist tightly. "He didn't need to…"

"I know," C.C. affirmed quietly, continuing to run her hands through his hair. She could feel his shaking slowly come to a stop. "The only thing that came from Mao was that Lelouch found out that Suzaku actually killed his father and realized he had suicidal tendencies because of it. Even without Mao, you can still help your father."

Hayate nodded, sniffling, "I know. I'll just use Geass on him to help him. I know that…I just…" He tightened his grip around her waist before pulling away. He tried to put a smile on his heavy lips, "Thank you. You didn't have to comfort me."

C.C. smiled a bit, patting his cheek, "You didn't have to come save me, but you still did. The least I could do was help you."

His lips twitched as he laid his head back down on her shoulder and held her. If there was one thing he missed, it was holding C.C. in his arms. He would never grow tired of that.

…

The next day, he was happy to find only himself and Suzaku in the student council meeting room. It was convenient and it was just what he needed so he could help his father. He grinned slightly when Arthur bit into Suzaku's hand, the boy grunting in pain and whining why Arthur only did it to him.

He cleared his throat, "Suzaku, could I ask you something of you?"

Suzaku blinked before standing up and facing the other boy, "Sure. What is it, Hayate?"

Hayate activated his Geass, watching Suzaku's eyes become red rimmed, "I know you killed your father and I know you feel that you feel the need to sacrifice yourself because you think it will cleanse your soul or something, but I need you to forget all of that. You need to live on for yourself. Stop sacrificing yourself because you believe it will help you atone for murdering your father. Forget about murdering Genbu Kururugi and forget all your suicidal thoughts. If you ever feel suicidal, I want you to overcome it and continue to live."

"Yes, sir," Suzaku mumbled dazedly, and he could practically see the weight lifting off his shoulders.

Hayate nodded, about to turn off his Geass before he thought of something. He was going to hate himself for this, but he felt it needed to be done, "One more thing; don't fall in love with Euphemia li Britannia. Soon, you will find your match who will fight against you on the battlefield and you will fall in love with her someday, but Euphemia is not the one for you."

"Yes, sir," The green eyed boy nodded slowly.

The mixed race male sighed, closing his eyes and shutting off his Geass. He hoped he did the right thing. While he did not use his mother's name, the only person who ever matched Suzaku on the battle field was Kallen.

Suzaku blinked, the red around his eyes disappearing with each blink. He scratched his cheek, regarding Hayate confusedly, "What was it you wanted again, Hayate?"

Hayate lifted his gaze up to him before plastering on a grin, "I guess I forgot. Sorry, Suzaku."


	9. The Reveal

**Chapter 9**

_"So the suit's almost done?"Hayate asked Genma who had just came out of his office. It had been almost a month since the scientist had asked the boy to help him. The suit had been an idea up until Genma found a participant. _

_Genma grinned, giving the boy a thumbs up, "It sure is, Hayate. Once we get the weapons set up on it, it'll be good to-"_

"_And what is this you're talking about?" A new voice entered the room. Hayate noticed Genma stiffen rigidly when the owner of the voice walked in. "Are you talking about Knightmares? I don't believe I see any here."_

_Genma cleared his tight throat, "Dr. Chawla, it's good to see you. Um, about what we were ta-"_

_The tanned woman turned to the younger male, "You look familiar. What's your name, boy and why are you here?"_

_Hayate gaped a bit, trying not to breathe so much out of his nose, fearing that he might breathe in some of the smoke she was blowing out. "Hayate, ma'am. Hayate Kozuki."_

"_Kozuki?" The blonde tilted her head thoughtfully, taking a drag from her tobacco pipe. She laughed suddenly, patting the boy's head, "Oh, you're Kallen's kid. Yes, she told me you were coming to try out for piloting a Knightmare."_

"_You know my mom?" The mixed race boy blinked slowly. Usually people who knew his mom knew his dad and didn't bother talking to him. As he gazed at the woman, he noticed there was something familiar about her._

"_Do I?" She laughed again. "I invented the Knightmare your mother used in her teen years." She held out her hand. "Rakshata Chawla. Nice to meet you, kid."_

_Hayate shook her hand, grinning, "Nice to meet you too. It's always nice meeting people my mom knew when she was younger. They always have such cool stories."Now he remembered; she was in the Ohgi's and Villetta's wedding photo. Still, he felt like there was something a bit more familiar about her. Was it the diamond on her forehead? Her accent?_

"_Stick around and I might tell you some," Rakshata winked before turning back to the other scientist. "Make sure to get this boy a proper Knightmare, Dr. Genma."_

_Genma swallowed dryly as she walked out of the room. The younger boy chuckled, putting his hands behind his head, "She seems cool."_

"_Yeah," Genma whispered, going back to his office. "Sorry, Hayate. I think we're done for the day."_

"_What?" Hayate questioned in disbelief. "But we haven't done anything-"_

"_Please, Hayate," Genma said, and Hayate could see him pleading with his eyes. "I'm just not up for anything right now."_

_As he went back to the office, Hayate suddenly remembered why Rakshata was so familiar. _

_She and Genma had the same eyes._

_It all made sense since Genma was usually laid-back and fun to be around until Rakshata showed up and told him something, usually in a cold tone though she was never like that to anyone else. Genma would revert back into a child who looked like he had just been scolded by his mother._

_According to Kallen, Rakshata was usually carefree and cool with everyone, much like Genma. The only thing she did not like doing was talking about her past, much like Genma. She was a genius, much like Genma._

_Hayate realized that Genma must've gotten into science either because he was so much like his mother or because he wanted to find her one day._

_When he had asked the scientist, all Genma said was, "My father died when I was 5. He was Japanese and he was taken out by Britannians. All he told me before he died was to go find my mother; she was a scientist and she was Indian. That's it; now let's get back to work."_

_Genma knew Rakshata was his mother. Rakshata knew Genma was her son. They most likely hated their past or regretted it, especially their relation to each other, which was why they never talked about their past._

_Still, Hayate thought, his eyebrow twitching. They acted so much alike it didn't seem like they were even trying to hide their relation to one another. His tapped his foot impatiently as he heard watched Rakshata coo over the Knightmares and Genma gush over his power suit._

"Hyyyyyngggh. Ugghhn. Burrra-hak!"

"Stop yawning like that," Kallen grumbled to the boy next to her, retracting her elbow from where she had dug it into his ribs. She began drawing again, "You're disrupting the class."

Hayate coughed roughly, rubbing his side. Though the stitches had finally been taken out, courtesy of Shirley's mom, it still was painful when someone jammed their elbow into him. "You could've been a little gentler, Kallen. Besides, the only person who could disrupt this class is Lelouch."

Said boy blinked out of his daze and turned his head towards them, "Did you call for me?"

The class groaned agitatedly, some even threw their sketchpads on the ground. "Lelouch," Rivalz whined. "Stop moving."

"Sorry," The violet eyed boy mumbled, going back into his previous position.

"No, your sightline was lower."

Lelouch lowered his head, "Like this?"

"Too far. Higher."

"This?" He moved his head higher.

Rivalz groaned, "Now your expression is totally different." He got up and put his hands on the other boy's face. "This has to be like this, this more like this, and then this like this. There!" He grinned triumphantly.

Everyone exclaimed their disbelief at the now smiling Lelouch while Hayate's shoulders shook from his restrained laughter. "That's not how he was!"

"I like the frowny face better."

Rivalz scoffed, "How come? I like this dopey look more."

"Me too," Hayate snickered, wiping the tears from his eyes.

"Shut up, Hayate," Lelouch barked only to cause the other boy to laugh loudly once more.

After class, Lelouch's phone rang as the two boys were conversing. The raven haired boy grabbed the other's sleeve and brought him to the top of the stairs and answered. Hayate could hear Ohgi on the other line.

Lelouch nodded after Ohgi finished his explanation, "I see. We'll help them."

"_You sure?_"

"The Black Knights are the champions of justice," Lelouch responded. "There's nothing strange about this. We'll use rendezvous method B-13. Disassemble and bring in the Knightmares from course 18. Have Diethard handle it. Also, alert the rendezvous plan members."

He hung up shortly after that. Before Hayate could open his mouth, C.C. walked up, dressed in the girls school uniform, "I'm sorry I didn't meet with the Chinese Federation."

Hayate choked, looking away. Lelouch paid no mind to him, "It's all been rescheduled. Don't worry too much about it. Changing your usefulness to me will just hinder the plan. Besides, today has delivered me two pawns I've been hoping for."

Pawns, Hayate questioned mentally as he blinked at the other male. He shrugged, putting his hands behind his head, "Well, I'll meet you at base. I'm gonna go see if I can catch a nap before the mission."

"You were yawning loudly in class," Lelouch mused as they walked down the stairs. "I'll give you a call when we go to base."

Hayate nodded and changed his direction, walking away from the two. Everything had been grating on his mind for a while and he just wanted to go back home where the only thing he had to worry about was his parents crying over Lelouch. Then again, it felt nice knowing that many innocent lives were going to be saved by him doing this.

He stopped a moment when he realized something; he hadn't spent enough time with Kallen. He had successfully stopped his father from falling in love with Euphemia. He hoped he stopped Euphemia from falling for Suzaku. He became friends with Shirley and made sure nothing bad happened to her. Kallen was the only one he hadn't spent time with. He hoped she hadn't fallen for Lelouch just yet.

He sighed heavily; that was something to worry about after his nap. His head was pounding insistently, and he didn't want to deal with it for a second longer. As he started walking, he felt another body collide with his.

He grunted, catching the person by their arms, "Hey, wat-" He blinked before smiling a bit, "Shirley, hey." He glanced down at her attire while releasing her, "Where are you going?"

Shirley smiled back, "I'm going out with Sophie. She wanted to go to the city and hang out. Where are you going?"

"To the hotel I'm staying at," He exhaled lightly, rubbing the back of his head. "I wanted to get a nap in before I go off on some BK business."

"BK?"

"Black Knights," He mumbled, glancing around to make sure they were the only ones outside. There were some girls leaving the dorm, but he knew they were too far away to hear him. "Zero gave me a call and told me about a mission, but it's not till later and I'm tired."

Shirley nodded understandingly before frowning, "You're staying in a hotel? Why not stay here? The dorms are for the students."

He shook his head, "I don't have any money. I can barely scrape enough to stay in the hotel. The dorms are way more expensive and it's not like I can ask my parents to pitch in." He grinned when she giggled.

She took the arm he offered and started walking to where Sophie was waiting, "But even in the future, you must've stayed in the dorms? Or did something other than go home after school?"

"My mom wanted me to stay with her since she could barely afford the dorms too. Even now when she has the money, she stays home," He replied, patting her hand. "And other than student council, which I was technically forced into, I really just hang out with my friends or my mom. I'm boring that way."

"You're not boring," She nudged him playfully, grabbing his fingers and squeezing them. "I mean, I don't do much either except swim. Does that make me boring?"

He grinned crookedly, throwing his free arm up to wave at Sophie, "Not in the slightest. Now, get on going." He took his arm from hers before putting it on her shoulder. He kissed her head, chuckling at the blush that crept up on her cheeks. "Stay safe. I'll see you tomorrow."

He waved to her before walking towards the hotel. When he got there, he undressed himself before knocking out on his bed. He only got to sleep for two hours before Lelouch called him. He took his suit out and walked out of the hotel. He found a private spot and changed before heading out to the base.

When he landed, some of the crew was working on the Guren Mk-II. He sighed, retracting his wings as he walked up to them. Tamaki glanced at him with a grin, "Hey, boss. How ya doing?"

Ichi raised his hand in greeting, "Afternoon, Tamaki." When he looked on the other side, he could see the Four Holy Swords Lelouch had spoken of conversing.

"Look, just stuff 'em in and close the lid already," Tamaki commanded whiningly. "It's almost time to move out."

"Treat it with more care." Ichi stiffened while everyone turned to the new voice. Rakshata shook her head as she stared at the machine and the men in it, "I was a hundred times more delicate than you guys when I gave birth to it."

Tamaki scoffed, "Wh-who the hell are you?"

Ichi groaned while Rakshata narrowed her eyes at the man, "I'm its mother."

"So you made it," Zero stated as he walked up.

Rakshata blinked before turning to him, "Are you Zero? It's a pleasure. I've heard so many things about you."

"The pleasure's mine, Rakshata," Zero replied courteously. "I used to read a lot about you on the net."

They shook hands briefly. Rakshata looked confused, "About me?"

"The articles relating to medical cybernetics."

The blonde smirked, "I hate talking about the past. Anyway, here." She brought up multiple keys before opening the case next to her. "A souvenir from Kyoto."

"Um," Kallen murmured as she walked up in a piloting suit. "Is this really going to improve the linkage system?"

"Of course not," Rakshata chuckled when Kallen gaped in disbelief. "It improves your life expectancy." She then turned to Ichi. "And you must be Ichi; the brawn of this group. Pleasure."

Ichi shook her hand quickly before letting go. She gestured to his suit, "And what is this? I've heard of the suit but I've not seen it in action just yet."

"A power suit," Ichi replied, clenching his fist. "It was given to me from a very smart scientist. You might know him."

Before she could reply, Zero spoke up and took everyone in the van. He told them of the mission and who was going to deploy first. The Four Holy Swords would take out all of the Burai while Kallen, Zero and Ichi would save Kyoshiro Tohdoh.

Once the sky darkened, they took off. Ichi flew in the sky, watching as the Four Holy Swords took out all the Britannians easily. He was a bit impressed to say the least. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Zero's Burai gesturing to a certain spot on the building.

He nodded, readying his blaster and let loose a strong beam, destroying the wall to the building. He flew inside, knocking the guard unconscious with a quick strike to his neck and walked towards Tohdoh.

He undid the straps that trapped him and gave him a small push forward, "Come on. You have a lot of people who want to see you again, Colonel."

"Leave me," Tohdoh moved his gaze away, frowning. "There's no reason for me to go on."

Ichi sighed, shaking his head, "I'm afraid I can't do that. There are people waiting for you, and your death isn't going to make them happy. You're Japanese, right? How low will you look if you give your life to the Britannians willingly?"

Before Tohdoh could protest, Ichi grabbed him by his waist and flew out of the building. The truck with Tohdoh's Knightmare was there which was where Ichi landed. Everyone one gathered around them. The Four Holy Swords opened the hatches to their Burai.

"Colonel!"

"Welcome back, Tohdoh."

Tohdoh inhaled deeply, "You all have certainly worked hard for this."

"'Twas nothing, sir."

Tohdoh opened the hatch to his Knightmare and stepped in, "Cooperate with Zero. Eliminate the remaining forces here."

"Wilco!"

Everyone had gotten back into their Burai or Knightmare after that. Ichi was glad that was over. He was not ready for a speech. He tensed when a Knightmare hand shot out towards them. Kallen smacked it away before it could hit the ground.

Ichi pulled out his sword, activating the blade when his eyes landed on the Lancelot coming towards them. He cursed mentally; when was his father going to learn? He realized that while he was successful in making sure he wouldn't sacrifice himself or fall in love with Euphemia, he was not successful in changing his father's mind about the Black Knights.

He tightened his grip on his sword; he'd change that as soon as he could. He rushed at Lancelot, dodging the green beam he shot at him and aiming for his arms. Lancelot threw a punch at him which he retaliated by grabbing onto it and shoving his sword through it.

The arm was only half destroyed before he had to jump off when Lancelot fired another blast at him. He landed on his feet, readying one of his blasters. He shot off a small beam and watched as Lancelot stilled before him.

He jumped onto the head, cutting the hatch open to reveal Suzaku to the rest of the knights. Suzaku stared at him in shock, "I-I-Ichi! How…?"

"I don't think you're in the position for asking me questions," Ichi replied lowly.

Suzaku tightened his grip on the controls fearfully, gritting his teeth, "Ichi, why would you do this? You're so much stronger than anyone I've seen. Why would you resort to being a terrorist when you know it's not going to help anyone? Fighting society like this is meaningless."

"And why is that?" Ichi growled, grabbing the other boy by his pilot suit with his free hand. "Why is fighting for a better society meaningless? You saying we should all bow down to them and wipe their asses because what we believe in means nothing?"

He released Suzaku before he could grab his wrists. The soldier shook his head, shutting his eyes tightly, "Why don't you just fight for them? Make them trust you and then you'll have the power to change everything from the inside."

Hayate sighed mentally; so that's why he fought for the Britannians. Still, it didn't help all that much since he pretty much became a Britannian and didn't want to change anything other than getting rid of the Black Knights, so there was no point of him saying anything.

Ichi grabbed him by his hair, bringing his face to his helmet, "All I'm hearing you say is 'Fight for the winning side because you won't get burned as much'. 'Fight for Britannia because Elevens will surely lose'. I've got news for you, kid. I fight for the side that fights for everyone. I've saved Japanese and Britannians alike. You tell me we're terrorists when you and any other Britannian have no problem taking out the Japanese."

"Stop it," Suzaku pleaded, thrashing in his strong grip.

Ichi threw him back into the back into the hatch, releasing his hair, "I knew a girl whose brother died because he wanted to make a better place for her. I knew a boy whose father died just because he was walking from the grocery store to feed his son and the Britannians thought he was stealing so they shot and killed him. I knew a man who turned into a monster so that his sister could live in peace."

He pointed his sword at Suzaku who only stared in fright, "Don't tell me these people don't know what they're fighting for. They have nothing to lose except their lives and that is the sad thing. Their dreams mean something. They want a peaceful world and you want order."

He lowered his sword, continuing, "I will tell you this, boy; keep believing that you can change everything from the inside. If you can do that, you will have proved me wrong. But while you're doing that, don't forget what you are actually fighting for. Know the sacrifices and know your true path. Now…"

He jumped off the Lancelot, landing in front of it. He held his hand up when the others tried to attack. He turned back to Suzaku, "I suggest you leave because if you try to fight again, I don't think you'll have enough spare parts to repair your Lancelot again."

He should've expected the fist from Suzaku. He threw a punch as well, meeting the Knightmare's fist in the middle. He was even prepared for the four booster shots that came at him. He dodged two and cut the others. He super sped past them and cut off one of Lancelot's legs.

He deactivated his sword, walking away from Lancelot, "I'll make sure they don't kill you, but like I said, I suggest you leave now." He turned to the Four Holy Swords, sheathing his sword. "Leave him be. He's already down for the count and can't fight anymore. We're leaving."

Though reluctant, they all retreated back to where Zero was and left shortly after. It was fortunate that they did since back up was coming for Suzaku. Minutes later, they made it back to base. Ichi took the now frozen Lelouch, shoving his mask on him and taking him to his room. He ignored the look of concerns from the others.

He shoved Lelouch on the bed, ripping off the other's mask and his helmet. He shook his head disappointedly, "Really, if you didn't even suspect that it was Suzaku in there, you're more naïve than I thought you were."

Lelouch gritted his teeth, clenching his fists tightly, "He was supposed to be by Nunnally's side. How could he…? It was him this whole time. He tried to kill me."

"Don't hate him," Hayate said, crossing his arms. "He's only fighting for Britannians because he believes that's the right way to do it. While he may be blinded with his hate for us, he is fighting for a better society."

Lelouch rubbed his eyes, shaking his head, "I don't hate him. I should've known it was him with the way he would talk and him being an Honorary Britannian and all."

Hayate nodded, putting his helmet back on, "While you contemplate on that, I'm gonna go check on something. After that, I'm going home. Call me if you need anything."

He walked out of the room before Lelouch could say another word. When he made it outside, he found Kallen with Ohgi. They both turned to him when he approached them. Kallen bit her lip worriedly, "Is Zero okay? He seemed out of it for some reason once the pilot was revealed."

"He's fine now," Ichi replied with a nod. "Kallen, I need to speak with you privately. If you'll follow me."

The red head threw Ohgi a wary glance before following her second leader. Once Ichi was sure they were out of earshot from the others, he began, "You know the Lancelot pilot, don't you?"

She tensed before shaking her head frantically, "Wh-what? N-no, I don't-"

"Kallen," He spoke firmly causing her to stop. "Tell me the truth."

"I-" She fidgeted, holding onto her arm tightly. "He's a classmate of mine. Please believe me when I say I didn't know he was working for the Britannians. Ple-"

He held up his hand, stopping her rambling, "I'm not asking for that. I'm asking for you to understand what is happening." When she only stared at him in confusion, he continued. "You're fighting with us because you want equality between the Japanese and Britannians. Believe me when I say he is fighting for the same thing, just differently."

She clenched her jaw, glaring at the ground, "How can he when he's fighting for them? He's even Japanese himself yet he's on their side."

He put his hand on her shoulder, hoping to relax her tense form, "He believes he can change it from the inside. You believe you can fight the Britannians and change society with brute strength. I believe that showing Britannians that their way of thinking is wrong will create equality. We all think differently, so don't hate him because you don't hate me."

"But he's-"

He held up his hand again when she began to protest, "He is your opponent on the battlefield, but is your friend at school. He has not deceived you nor has he tried to harm you in person. All I'm asking is for you to understand his point of view of things and maybe you can help him understand yours. He's not a bad person, he just thinks differently than us. Know this; he's not staying with the Britannians to keep them safe, he's staying with them to change them. Am I clear?"

She sighed deeply, nodding, "Yes, I get you."

"I knew you would," He patted her shoulder and walked out of their hiding spot. "I hope the two of you can still be friends or whatever it was you were before."

And while he hoped they could be more, he knew that was asking for a bit too much right at this moment. Oh well, it's not like he was born this anytime soon or anything.

…

The next day when Lelouch called him for another Black Knight meeting, he could only gape at the giant submarine they were loaded into. Zero had to push him along so he could get inside.

Zero stood in front of the others as he began the meeting, "Now then, I'll announce our new organizational plan since the reorganization of the Black Knights. The chief of military affairs will now be Kyoshiro Tohdoh."

The knights began chattering while Asahina only nodded happily with a smile. Zero continued, "In charge of general intelligence, including public relations, spying and liaison work will be Diethard Reid."

Diethard smirked as the others gasped. Tamaki grunted, turning to said man, "This Britannian?"

"Not just that, but he's with the media."

Chiba spoke up, "Zero, I don't mean to be racist but what's the reason for using a Britannian for such an important position?"

"Reason?" Zero mumbled before throwing out his arm. "Well then, what about me? As you all know, I'm not Japanese either and Ichi here also has a bit of Britannian blood. What we need here is talent which gets results. Race, past, and methods don't matter."

"Alright, alright," Tamaki groaned, rolling his eyes. Hayate thanked him for that. He hated speeches just as much as the other man.

Zero went on, putting his hand on his hip, "My second in command is Kaname Ohgi."

"Me?" Ohgi blinked in shock.

"You object?"

Ohgi shook his head slightly, "N-no."

Kent chuckled, "Well, Ohgi was our leader to begin with."

"I was getting worried with all these newcomers," Minami smiled.

"In charge of engineering and development; Rakshata."

Rakshata smiled with her pipe between her lips, "Naturally."

Ichi spoke up this time before Zero could, "Commander of the Number Squad is Kallen Kozuki."

"Number squad?" Kallen questioned confusedly.

Ichi nodded, "Number squad alone will be under mine and Zero's direct control. Think of it as a royal guard. You'll also be fighting with me a lot more."

Kallen smiled, "Royal guard for Zero and Ichi."

The screen behind the two leaders changed as Zero continued, "Commander of squad one will be Shogo Asahina. Commander of squad two: Ryoga Senba. Commander of squad three: Kizuna Kagesaki. Commander of Special Forces squad two: Shin'ichiro Tamaki. That is all."

"Yes!" Tamaki cheered happily.

Hayate watched as Kallen blinked, turning to C.C. who simply played with her hair. She was probably wondering why the girl didn't have a position.

"Zero, may I add one thing?" Diethard spoke up. Zero gave a small nod. "There's a topic we've put off which needs to be addressed."

Soon, they were out of the submarine and into the van's base. Once they were seated, Diethard began, "Suzaku Kururugi. He can't be allowed to become a symbol to Elevens who support Britannia. My advice is that he be assassinated."

"Assassinated? Kururugi?" Zero questioned. Ichi glanced at him, still continuing to lean on the wall and listen silently.

Rakshata smiled, "I see. While Zero has been the star of the resistance movement, the supporters have lacked one."

"People don't move on pure ideology," Diethard stated. "Now that a person the Britannians can use as a symbol has appeared, the most realistic option would be to have him killed."

"I object," Tohdoh declared firmly. "The Japanese people would never support such a cowardly tactic."

"That's right," Ohgi nodded in agreement. "The Black Knights won't kill an unarmed opponent. When you say assassinate, you mean to kill him in private when he's defenseless, don't you?"

"I'm just suggesting a way to minimize a definite risk," Diethard said. "The ones who will decide what to do are Ichi and Zero."

Ichi spoke up first since he knew the conflict that was raging inside Lelouch's mind, "We won't kill him." Diethard and Zero stared at him in shock. Or he assumed Lelouch was in shock. He continued, "Kururugi wants to change society; he just has a different way of doing it. I'm a supporter of equality, and I believe that in a way, he is too."

He brought himself off the wall, and started walking out, "Kururugi is strong as well, but he's no match for me. I'll take care of him on the battlefield so you have nothing to worry about. He's only a soldier after all. He'll be no higher than that."

…

A few days later, the Black Knights were getting ready for their next mission on a certain island. Apparently, Lelouch was actually scared that something would happen to Suzaku, so he made a mission to capture him. He had heard where Suzaku and Euphemia were going to be from Lloyd when he was talking to Suzaku about something the day before.

School had been a bit hard since Hayate had to make sure Kallen and Lelouch didn't do anything out of the ordinary. Though Lelouch brooded, that was normal. Kallen would just throw wary looks at the back of Suzaku's head.

"Euphemia will be going to that island to meet a nobleman arriving from the homeland. Her guards will include Suzaku Kururugi and his Lancelot," Zero explained. "As this isn't a strategic point, the enemy's strength will also be limited. This is our chance. The objective of this mission will be the capture of both Suzaku Kururugi and the Lancelot. Win on the battlefield and we'll capture him without a doubt."

Tohdoh let out a small smile while Kallen sighed in relief. "What happens after we capture him?" Tamaki questioned.

"Just leave everything after that to me and Ichi," Zero answered.

Ichi began walking out of the room but was caught by C.C. who dragged him into the hallway, away from the others. "What?" He asked confusedly.

"Are you really willing to let Suzaku be captured by them?" C.C. raised a questioning eyebrow. "You don't know what Lelouch will ask of him. You don't even know what the knights will do to him."

He shook his head, "I don't, but that doesn't mean I can't improvise."

Several minutes later, they were deployed out to the battlefield. The Burai and Knightmares destroyed some of the buildings, hoping to get their attention. Ichi floated in the sky and watched as the Black Knights took out the Britannians easily. He forced himself into action when he saw Lancelot aiming for Tamaki's Burai.

He caught the boosters Suzaku shot and threw him over his shoulder. He sighed roughly; knowing the next part of the plan. Using the suit's super strength, he grabbed the leg of Lancelot and threw him towards the sand. His side burned fiercely at the overexertion, but he ignored it and charged at Lancelot.

He kicked him and kept pushing him towards the small crater. Once there, he shot multiple beams from his wrist cannons, paralyzing Lancelot. He brought his arm down, "You might as well come out now, Suzaku. It's going to be awhile till your Knightmare will be fighting again. Trust me, no one will harm you."

Suzaku opened the latch after much hesitation. He lowered himself down and walked towards Ichi, "What is it that you want? Are you going to kill me now?"

"I told you I wouldn't," Ichi replied with a shake of his head. "I'm just here to confirm that you know what you're doing. Naïve as your goal is, I respect it. I can only hope that you respect mine and the others."

"I can't respect terrorists," Suzaku seethed, clenching his jaw.

Ichi exhaled sharply, shaking his head, "I thought I had told you I'm not a terrorist and neither are the Black Knights. We may look like terrorists to you, but who was the one who invaded Japan? Certainly not the Japanese, I can tell you that much."

Suzaku tensed, and he knew he had him right where he wanted. "You think we're terrorists because we're fighting for what we lost; equality. Look at it this way, Suzaku, in other people's eyes, you're the terrorist. Britannians invaded the lands of the Japanese and destroyed the peace they had. What we have now isn't peace, but anarchy. Do you think that's worth anything?"

He smirked behind his helmet as Suzaku stayed silent, glaring at him. "What don't you understand? I'm not fighting Britannia; I'm fighting whoever is in my way for equality. Guess who just so happens to fight back against me? Britannia. You can claim all you want that Britannia isn't the reason for this chaos, but you're wrong. It's in their very blood to spit on the Japanese. They would spit on you as well if you didn't have the title of Honorary Britannian. Actually, they probably spit on you behind your back; you're just too clueless to notice."

Suzaku continued to glare before flinching a bit when static filled his ear piece. He glanced Ichi warily, "May I?" Ichi gave a curt nod, allowing him to answer the call.

"_Major Kururugi, this is Lieutenant Colonel Fayer, Commander of the Britannian base here on Shikine Island. We're launching surface to surface missiles against the terrorists. You are ordered to keep Ichi there._"

Hayate tensed; was he seriously ordering Suzaku to die? He couldn't think anymore on the subject since he felt a roaring pain in his side which caused him to fall to his knees. He shouted, holding his throbbing side. He smirked shakily, "I didn't take you for a coward, Kururugi."

Suzaku glared at him, lowering his fist to his side, "Though you make many good points, I'm afraid I can't bring myself to agree with your methods. I've done too much to just back out now. All I can do now is this."

"You're going to die as well. Are you an idiot?" Ichi seethed, trying to get back to his feet. He could feel the haze of pain descend on his brain harshly. He almost bit his tongue when Suzaku shoved his foot into the pained side once more, causing him to fall to the ground. "Motherfucker."

Over the blood pounding in his ears, he could hear bullets flying and explosions happening above him. He could also hear footsteps approaching, "Kururugi, let him go!" Zero shouted from his Burai.

"Suzaku, let Ichi go! Please!" He tensed when he heard Kallen running towards them. "It's me! Kallen Stadtfeld from student council! Look at me!"

"A soldier must follow orders," Suzaku stated harshly.

Ichi chuckled weakly, "That's rich. I guess that means more than following what's right. Do you know how many people have been killed by soldiers who were following orders? I'm sure you know what happened in WWII. The Nazi soldiers who committed mass murder against the Jews, Gypsies, homosexuals, people with disabilities and many others were all following orders. Do you want to be written in history next to them?"

"Shut up!" Suzaku yelled, looking a bit frightening from how much Ichi's words were getting to him. "Just shut up!" He kicked him in the face roughly.

Ichi groaned sluggishly, his brain almost bouncing around in his head. He blinked slowly when the sky suddenly darkened. With much effort, he could make out a ship flying over them. The bottom hatch opened, showing two cannons that were aimed at them. They shone brightly as they prepared the attack.

"_Hayate, I'm so glad you're my son."_ Hayate remembered when he saw the fireworks with his father, shining so brightly in the sky. He remembered feeling so happy to finally spend time with the man. He remembered how lucky he felt to have Suzaku as a father.

"Dad," He whispered faintly before the blast consumed him and Suzaku.


	10. Test of Relationships

_(A/N: Again, many of you won't like the way I wrote these out, but like I said before, this is fanfiction. I can write whatever I want. If you want something canon, go watch the show. I'm making this up, it does not have to be canon. If you don't like it, stop reading. I get tired of people saying 'That's not canon'. I don't care if it is or not. This is my story, not yours.  
_

_Thank you for reading.)_

**Chapter 10**

_"Boys, dinner's ready!" Villetta's voice rang through the house. The two 8 year olds in the room, Hayate and Naoto, grinned at each other before rushing out to the kitchen. The blue haired woman laughed amusedly at the boys while setting the table, "Someone's excited." _

_Hayate smiled at the woman, "Auntie Villetta's food is the best."_

"_Aren't you cute?" Villetta cooed, ruffling the boy's hair._

_Mei came up next, sitting down across from Naoto, "When is Dad coming, Mom? I need his help with my homework."_

"_Dad's right here," Ohgi announced when he came through the front door. "Who called?"_

"_Dad!" Naoto shouted happily, throwing his arms in the air._

_Mei smiled, "Hey, Dad."_

"_Hi, Uncle Kaname," Hayate greeted the man. "Mommy says hi."_

_Ohgi smiled, patting the boy's shoulder after he greeted his kids, "Tell your mom she should come over more. I barely see her nowadays." He kissed his wife hello before sitting down. "So, Hayate. How's life at home doing?"_

"_It's good," Hayate answered softly, digging into the delicious meal before him. "Mommy sends me to Grandma a lot now but that's okay. And sometimes, I get to see Mr. Zero. He's fun to play with."_

"_Zero?" Ohgi questioned in disbelief, his spoon halfway towards his mouth. "You mean…your mom let's you spend time with him and he wants to spend time with you?"_

_Hayate nodded with a grin, "Uh-huh. Mr. Zero is fun. He also said he's gonna start training me with all the fighting moves he knows. It's gonna be so cool."_

_Ohgi exchanged discreet glances with Villetta before turning back to the young boy, "Hayate, do you ever wonder who your dad is?"_

_The mixed race boy paused, setting his spoon down, "Um, no. Not really. Mommy always just tells me he's closer than I think. I don't know what she means, but it doesn't matter. Besides, I'm sure Mr. Zero is way better than my daddy."_

The birds above were squawking loudly. That was the first sound Hayate was aware of when he came to. The next was the waves splashing near him. Where was he? He couldn't remember what had happened other than Suzaku beating his wound.

He groaned slightly, opening his eyes against the harsh sunlight that bore down on his eyelids. He was a bit startled at the cloth that descended down on his face. He moved his eyes slowly to the person next to him, feeling his lips twitch, "Euphy."

Euphemia blinked confusedly before smiling when she realized Hayate had woken up, "Oh, Hayate. Are you alright? You've been out of it since we landed on this island."

"Really?" He questioned, trying to sit up. He yelped when pain roared in his side. He gritted his teeth, holding the afflicted area. "Damn it."

She gasped worriedly, putting her hand over his, "Are you alright? What happened? Here, let's get you out of this." She grabbed the collar of the suit, trying to pull it off. They finally got it off a while later with Hayate wincing at every move.

With the suit piled at the boy's waist, the princess could see the bruising around the healed wound he had gotten weeks before. Her eyes filled with tears, her lip trembling, "Who did this to you? Please don't tell me it was…"

He nodded, gazing down at the bruise as well, "Yeah, it was Suzaku. He got mad when I was talking to him and decided to take it out on me." He turned to Euphemia once more, finally taking in her appearance. His face burst into a heated blush, his lower regions twitching to life. "Um…"

She stared at him confusedly, wondering what had caused this reaction until she realized she was naked and the only thing covering her was his cape. She blushed as well, pulling the cape over her tightly, "Sorry. I bathed in the small river and didn't have anything to dry myself with."

He didn't even want to think about the symbolism. He waved his hand dismissively, keeping his gaze wandering, "I-it's fine. I-I would've given it to you if I was a-awake t-t-too. J-just-uh-"

He squinted his eyes at the shimmering ocean, trying to come up with something to say. He hadn't seen a naked female in what seemed like forever to him. Before he never really had embarrassing erections except in the morning. Usually, he'd only get aroused if he was around Cecily. Hans had always asked if he was batting for the other team because of it.

The worst thing; he couldn't even think clearly. His body felt like it was overheating and his member was twitching madly against his boxers and suit. This was getting way too embarrassing and he did not know how to deal with this.

"Hayate?" Euphemia called concernedly, putting her hand to his forehead. "Are you sick? Your face is all red."

Hayate laughed nervously, swallowing dryly, "I-I'm fine, but could you please put some clothes on."

She blinked in confusion before realizing what was going on. She resisted the urge to giggle and took his face in her hand. He diverted his eyes from her, staring at the ground embarrassedly. She gave a small smile before kissing his lips softly.

He was taken aback at her sudden action. Did she really…? He could feel a slight headache coming on as his thoughts went into overdrive. Did she have feelings for him? Did he have feelings for her? Sure, he liked her and he thought she was very pretty and nice, but C.C. had taken up most of his mind when it came to things like this. Well, her and someone else.

Oh well, who the hell cares? He thought and kissed back just as softly. His problem wasn't going down anytime soon. Euphemia's face was flushed when they pulled apart. The blush on his face wasn't cooling down either.

Hayate licked his lip, holding onto her arm, "Why did you do that? I mean, I have no problem with it but I'm Japanese and you're-"

She put a finger to his lips, frowning, "No one should have a problem with it. If you can't be with the one you want to be with then what kind of world are we living in?"

"A Britannian one," He replied tersely. "My grandmother is Japanese and my grandfather is a Britannian. He had to remarry and she practically had to leave her kids with him. It wasn't fair to her but those are the laws and rules of this country."

"Well then someone should change it," She stated firmly, her eyes bright with determination. "Everyone should be equal because no one is higher than the other when everything comes down to it."

He stared at her in disbelief before grinning, "Euphy, you're starting to talk like an Empress now." He brought his hand up and caressed her cheek, "That's the kind of mentality people should have. We Japanese people want equality, and that's why we fight; we fight those who won't let us have equality and unfortunately, you're family is the one against us."

"I'll change that," She whispered, putting her hand over his on her face. "I'll change all of it and I'll help you so Britannians and Elevens can live peacefully. So you and your family can live peacefully."

He smiled slightly, "Thank you." He leaned in and kissed her tenderly. He pulled back, "That's all I want anybody to say."

She smiled before her stomach growled loudly. She blushed embarrassedly while he laughed a bit. He tried to sit up, "Let's see if we can get you some food, yeah?" He mentally sighed in relief; his problem was finally gone.

"That would be nice," She murmured, helping him stand. The bruises weren't going to heal anytime soon and she knew they must've been hurting something fierce.

After helping him put his suit back on, and getting her clothes back on, they searched for something edible to eat. Hayate apologized by saying that he could get fish for them to eat but his bruises would have brought him more pain and he wouldn't be able to catch anything. Euphemia assured him and understood. He couldn't even fly them off the island because of it.

Once they gathered a sufficient amount of food, they went back to the shore and ate all they could. Hayate was happy it tasted well enough for both of them. The weird thing; he was sure he could hear laughter in the distance. He couldn't tell if he was hallucinating or not.

They both talked until the moon came up. Euphemia told him about her childhood and how she would always play with her siblings. Hayate told her about his childhood and how he would hang out with his friends, but would always spend time with his mother because she was the only thing he had.

Soon, Euphemia fell asleep on his chest, his cape acting as her blanket. Hayate smiled down at her before gazing back up at the sky. They'd be off this island in a quick minute if he wasn't injured and if he had his helmet. He touched his face; where was his helmet anyways? It wasn't anywhere near him.

He froze; no way. Suzaku couldn't have it? Could he? Before he could expand on that thought, his attention was diverted by the light shining in the night sky, reflecting off the clouds. He blinked, furrowing his brow in thought. Was it a rescue party? He'd have to tell Euphemia that in the morning. For now, he wanted to sleep.

…

"Oh man, I can't…" Kallen laughed heartedly, her head inadvertently falling onto Suzaku's shoulder.

Suzaku grinned at her, happy that she had found his story amusing. He didn't know why, but all he wanted to do was see her smile. Especially now since her personality was so much different from the one at school. He liked this one much better. Though she was stubborn and a bit hard on the edges, he found her charming and way easier to get along with now than at school.

When he awoke on this island, he was confused on how he had landed there. All he had remembered was fighting Ichi before a light descended on them. He began walking around to find a fresh source of water and fought Kallen, his classmate, bathing in the waterfall. After making sure he had taken many deep breaths so they wouldn't end up in an embarrassing situation, he approached her.

Kallen had caught his gaze in surprise when he revealed himself before taking out her Black Knights uniform and wallet-knife and charged. He easily subdued her, pinning her to the ground and straddling her naked form. His mind was too busy trying to process that a friend of his was a terrorist to realize the situation they were in.

He had let her get dressed before tying her up and taking her to the shore to catch some fish for food. As they were walking, they found Ichi's helmet which he held onto tightly. She had protested, saying she wanted the helmet because he did not deserve it. He had asked if she knew Ichi's or Zero's identity. After tricking her, he found out she didn't know much about either of her leaders but believed they were going to rescue her. He very much doubted it since Zero did not know where they were and he didn't think Ichi was going to risk revealing his identity to rescue her and he was most likely already off the island since he could fly.

After that, he had stripped his pilot suit and dove in the water, catching many fish for dinner. He had offered to take her binding off if she wouldn't escape but she stubbornly refused and bossily told him to keep fishing. He found her personality to be more endearing than annoying, but realized she was going to be a tough nut to crack. He then flicked water at her and found her appalled face to be very amusing. She had chased him through the water, kicking droplets of the liquid at him. They both laughed loudly at the childish game they were playing.

Later on when he tried to find a place for them to rest, she had revealed herself to be the red Knightmare he had fought against before. His heart skipped a beat and his body had heated up. He didn't know why, but he really liked the fact that it was her that was able to go hand-to-hand to him in combat with Knightmares since no one else could fight him and he always got his ass handed to him whenever he fought Ichi; a fact that she teased him with.

Once they had started a fire and cooked all the fish, the moon was already high in the sky. They indulged themselves on the only food they could find. Not wanting to stay in an awkward silence, Suzaku decided to strike up a conversation to which Kallen had asked why he was so weird; they were enemies, why was he trying to be civil? He had replied that they were only enemies on the battlefield and they weren't fighting at the moment. Besides that, they were friends at school. She sighed reluctantly and began to converse as well.

Soon, the conversation took a drastic turn. He had asked her to leave the Black Knights because he did not think what they were doing was right. She had replied saying that she didn't care what he thought; he wasn't fighting for her people, she was. She criticized him saying that he was only a lapdog to the Britannian people and had betrayed his very people.

When she had mentioned his father, he in turn told her of how he had killed his father with his own hands at the age of 10 because he did not believe in what his father was doing was right. He said that Zero and Ichi were just like his father.

She had debunked his comment in saying that, yes, while Zero was cold and almost hollow to others, Ichi cared for Japanese and Britannians, he just wanted equality. He was not like Genbu Kururugi since he did not let innocent people die.

She then assured him that she somewhat understood what he was saying and his goals, but she could not leave the Black Knights because they were the only ones trying to bring justice to her brother's wrongful death and her mother's harsh treatment.

She then angrily told him that he was blind to other people's problems because he was slowly gaining the mind of a Britannian. She told him that Ichi believed he, Suzaku, could change the system from the inside while he also believed it could be changed from the outside as well.

Her eyes had been full of tears when she told him that while she knew that people thought differently on how to create a better world, she did not hate them for that, but when they told her to stop her way of finding that better world because her way was wrong, she fought even harder because her brother had fought the same way and if she didn't continue fighting, how was her brother finally going to rest in peace?

Suzaku's eyes were filled with sympathy at the end of her speech. He had dropped his stick and sat next to her, wrapping his arm around her shoulder and telling her it was okay to cry. She did just that, sobbing harshly into his shoulder. He even let out a few tears as well; for Kallen, for his father, for the wronged and for the dead.

After she had cried her eyes out, he untied her again and began to tell her a story of his childhood. She had been hard to crack at first but then she started to talk as well. She spoke on how she and her brother were always running outside, getting themselves dirty and having their mother scold them.

They continued on like that for a while. Suzaku's stories made Kallen smile and laugh while Kallen's stories made Suzaku realize something, but his brain was a bit too slow figuring it out. He'd get to it later. Right now, he had something on his mind that had been nagging him for a while.

Suzaku glanced at Ichi's helmet that sat on Kallen's Black Knights jacket, "Hey, Kallen?" She hummed into his shoulder, her eyes drooping closed. "Do you want to know their identities? Ichi's and Zero's?"

Kallen snorted, putting her chin on his shoulder and gazing at him, "Of course, but I'm not going to force them. If they trust me enough to show me, then that'll feel like I hit the jackpot. I'm not really a supportive comrade if I'm breathing down their neck every five seconds, waiting for them to take off their masks."

"I see," He murmured, dropping his head onto hers. He yawned, in turn making her yawn as well. He chuckled, "I think it's time to get some sleep."

She nodded against his shoulders, her eyes already closed. She slurred tiredly, "Night, Zaku."

He blushed, smiling a bit; was that a nickname or was she too tired to say his full name? Either way, he liked the sudden fluttering in his stomach from hearing it. He chuckled softly, "Night, Kal." Before he closed his eyes, he saw a light shining in the sky. Was that a rescue party?

…

Once morning came, Hayate told Euphemia about the light in the sky and believed it to be a rescue party of some sorts for her. She agreed to go searching for it and walked with him towards where he had seen the light.

"Are you sure this is okay?" She spoke up questioningly, gazing at his uncovered face. "If you don't have your helmet, they're going to find out who you are and track you until you're dead. I don't want that." She gripped his hand worriedly.

He smiled at her reassuringly, "You just let me deal with that. I can handle my own and I won't go down that easily."

They had walked out, almost hitting a dead end. He mentally cursed; was it just a trick of the light or was there really something here? His thoughts were interrupted when he heard leaves rustling behind him. He turned around, standing in front of Euphemia protectively. When his eyes landed on the newcomers, he cursed harshly.

"HAYATE?!" Suzaku and Kallen shouted in disbelief. No way. Out of everyone they could've guessed, Hayate was most likely the last person on their mind. If it was him, how the hell did he get such a badass suit and where could they get one?

"Suzaku," Euphemia called in a bit of relief. She was still upset though that he had caused such injuries on Hayate. "You're safe."

Suzaku straightened, staring at the pink haired girl in shock, "Princess Euphemia, what are you doing here? Why are you with Haya-Ichi?"

Euphemia smiled, squeezing the now frozen Hayate's hand, "I've known Hayate was Ichi for a while now. Don't worry; he's protected me and made sure nothing happened to me."

"Wait," Kallen spoke numbly, clutching Ichi's helmet. "Wait, if she knows your identity then that means you-you're…" Her eyes filled with tears as her lip curled in disgust. "You're working for Britannians."

He sneered right back at her, "Just because I'm friends with a Britannian doesn't mean anything. Like I said, I'm fighting for equality. If you don't like it, go follow someone else. I'm fighting for my family and for the people. Don't you dare think you know my intentions. I've shed blood for this cause."

"Zero wouldn't be friends with a Britannian and betray us!"

Hayate growled harshly, "Zero's a Britannian himself! And I haven't betrayed anyone so why don't you just-" He seized in pain, falling to his knees and holding his side.

"Hayate," Euphemia exclaimed worriedly, kneeling beside him. "Are you alright? Is it the bruises?"

The mixed race boy panted raggedly, feeling his side burn in agony. He placed his hand on the ground in front of him, trying to steady himself. While he wasn't the only one who was surprised when the ground lit up, his eyes were the only ones whose shone with Geass.

Kallen and Suzaku held onto each other and Euphemia gripped Hayate's arm tightly as they fell through the floor rapidly. Hayate stood unsteadily, gazing around. He could see Lloyd, Prince Schneizel, and many Britannian troops waiting for them.

"Damn it," He cursed once more. He ripped away from Euphemia, running towards Kallen and taking his helmet. He put it on securely, taking the protesting red head in his arms and activating his wings. He turned to the princess, "Goodbye for now, Euphy."

He shot in the sky, trying to ignore Kallen's screeches. He felt the flaring pain of his bruises hit his mind harshly but powered through it. He had to get them away safely and falling from the sky into the water was not going to help them.

Kallen glared at his now helmet covered face, "I can't believe you. First, you're actually a classmate of mine and you have been working with the Britannians the entire time. You're worse than Suzaku."

"Shut up," He grunted, his arms beginning to shake from the pain. "You've seen me fight against Britannians and you've seen me fight against terrorists. You've done the same. Just because I'm friends with a Britannian royal doesn't mean anything. If I wanted to be fighting with Britannia, I would've killed all of you. Trust me, it would be damn easy to."

She glared at him once more before turning away, grumbling, "Alright, I'm sorry. We both have Britannian friends and I shouldn't be so quick to jump to conclusions."

"Thank you," He mumbled, wondering what made her cave so easily. Was it her time with Suzaku? If so, he wondered how close they got.

After flying for almost an hour, they finally saw land. Only a little more flying and they had landed at the base for the Black Knights. He was happy to hit the ground and let go of the red head in his arms. Though, once he had let her go, he barely got to take a step before he blacked out, hitting the ground. He could hear Kallen shouting for him before everything went silent.

…

"Blergh," Was the first thing out of Hayate's mouth when he came to. He squinted at the lights shining brightly on the ceiling. "Where am I?"

"In the ship's infirmary," C.C.'s voice answered smoothly.

His body tensed instantly, sending a wave of pain through his abdomen. He cursed, gripping his side, "Damn it, why'd you go and do that?"

C.C. hummed, "It seems like Suzaku Kururugi really did get the jump on you." She glanced at the bruises covering his stomach, shaking her head, "You idiot. You strained yourself when you flew yourself and Kallen out of wherever you two were."

Hayate swallowed dryly, lying back down, "Tell me something I don't know. I had to get her out of there or she'd die."

"Did you have to reveal your identity?"

He tsked, shaking his head, "What's done is done. No going back now." He shifted a bit before sitting up carefully, "Give me my suit. I gotta go out there in case something happens."

C.C. shrugged, throwing him the suit, "Don't come crying to me when your side starts to ache again."

"I didn't come crying to you in the first place," He mumbled, slowly putting the suit on.

After finally getting the suit on, he walked out of the infirmary, greeting the others who were happy he had returned. He went to the top of the stage, standing with Zero, Kallen Ohgi, Tohdoh and Diethard. He realized he had gotten there a bit too late and they had already started the whole speech thing. He didn't know whether to be relieved or miffed.

Tamaki spoke up, "Um, so you're saying…?"

"We are not going to collaborate with," Zero answered promptly. "That's a puppet government, not an independent one; the Chinese Federation's."

"But they claim to be Japanese."

"You'd just be changing names and masters. There's no future with them," Zero stated firmly. "We have to ignore this Japan of theirs."

"Oh?" Asahina hummed.

"Then are you saying we don't interfere with what the Britannians are doing?" Urabe asked.

Diethard turned his gaze to one of his leaders, "Zero, perhaps you better clarify what our organization's policy is."

Ohgi nodded, "He's right." He turned to the masked leader. "Even leaving the Sawasaki matter aside, what's our main objective here?"

"To make Tokyo an independent nation," Zero responded.

Everyone gasped in shock and disbelief. "Independent?!" Kallen breathed.

"Nation?!" Asahina choked out.

"Are you serious?"

"Us?"

"A country?"

Wow, Hayate thought to himself. They were really shocked over this. Lelouch really did know how to make a crowd speechless.

"Hold on," Ohgi spoke over the chatter. "No matter how big that Black Knights have gotten…"

"The enemy is a nation that controls a third of the entire world," Chiba stated.

"We can't pull that off ourselves," Tamaki protested.

"Then answer me this," Zero raised his voice, speaking loudly through his mask. "Who are you waiting for to beat Britannia? Is someone going to do it for you? You think if you wait long enough someday the chance will come? Don't be naïve. If we don't' do it, that someday will never come."

Hayate resisted the urge to clap. This boy really knew how to persuade someone. After that, the group was disbanded and the meeting was over. Zero grabbed Ichi's arm, dragging him down the stage and to one of the rooms. Hayate protested the whole way.

Once they were away from the others, Zero turned to him, "I didn't get to ask you what had happened on the island because you passed out. Kallen told me it was you two against Suzaku and Euphemia. What else?"

"That's the gist of it," Ichi sighed, putting his hands on his hips. "She was with Suzaku the entire time and I was with Euphemia." He put his hand up to stop Zero from interrupting, "If you don't thin Kallen told you everything, allow me to tell you. Euphemia knows my identity; I told her for some reasons you wouldn't understand. I lost my helmet, so Suzaku and Kallen know my identity as well. That's it."

He could picture Lelouch narrowing his eyes behind the mask, "Why did you have to tell Euphemia? What did you have to gain?"

"A friend," Ichi responded promptly. "A Britannian I could trust. Someone from the inside I could tell my goals to and maybe they'll change their way of thinking as well. Maybe they can try it from the inside. If you don't trust me because of that, that's fine with me. I don't care."

It was silent for a moment before Zero sighed, shaking his head, "I still trust you, Hayate, don't worry. Nothing's going to change that. Now I need you to go help Suzaku fight Sawasaki. I know he's going to be there and he's going to fight recklessly."

"That he is," Ichi nodded in agreement.

"Are you well enough to fight?"

Ichi shrugged, following him out, "I guess we'll have to see."

Hours later, Hayate found himself floating in the sky with an energy filler in his hand, watching Suzaku fight against many Knightmares. He seemed to be in a bit of a pinch with so many of them.

He waited for the right moment to attack. Once he saw the Burai surround Lancelot, he shot off a beam from his wrist cannons, paralyzing the Burai much to everyone's shock.

"I see," Ichi mumbled to himself. "They're using Suzaku as a decoy to bring them all down and if something happens to him, Cornelia can come in easily to finish it. Hmph, that's just like them."

He shot off another beam when two helicopters appeared in front of him. They were down instantly, hitting the ground. He floated down to the floor, landing in front of Lancelot. "Suzaku, is Lancelot still good to go?"

"Uh…y-yes," Suzaku's voice came through his ear piece. "What are you doing here, Ichi?"

Ichi pulled out the energy filler and held it out, "I came to give you this. It's an energy filler. Don't worry; I won't destroy Lancelot if that's what you're thinking. I think I'll give it a break."

Suzaku chuckled, taking the energy filler and putting it into the Knightmare, "Sooner or later, I'll beat you and that suit of yours."

"That's fine," Ichi laughed. "For now, let's fight together." They both took out their swords, slicing through the Burai around them.

They both charged at enemy's H.Q., destroying everything in their path. Hayate could feel the pain radiate through him, but he didn't let him deter him from the mission. As he was destroying the wall of the H.Q., a voice came through his earpiece, "_Ichi, don't you fight for those who grieve for Japan?_"

Ichi chuckled, "I don't associate with terrorists who use unjust means to get what they want."

"_Unjust?! I'm doing this for Japan._"

Suzaku's voice came through as well, "_Sawasaki, if this is for Japan, why did you run away from the Chinese Federation? You needed to stay for everyone's sake._"

"_You child!_"

They broke through the wall finally, continuing to charge at the enemies. Suzaku motioned for Ichi to follow him, flying towards where Sawasaki had escaped. He threw one of his boosters at the helicopter, destroying it.

They flew to the top, landing in front of Sawasaki and Cao. "That's as far as you go," Ichi stated.

"Sawasaki," Suzaku said firmly.

Sawasaki stared at them in shock, "Impossible. They broke through without any effort."

After they had successfully captured Sawasaki and gave him to the Britannians, Ichi turned to Suzaku, "Suzaku, I know we fight on different sides, but does that really mean we have to hate each other for it?"

"_I guess not,_" Suzaku spoke through the mic. "_I don't want to hate you or Kallen. You guys are fighting for your cause and so am I. We just think differently. But if I do see you on the battlefield, I won't hold back. You told me to stay true to my path and I'm going to so I can prove you wrong._"

Hayate grinned, "That's all I needed to hear." He outstretched his fist, "Friends?"

Suzaku extended Lancelot's fist, bumping the other boy's "_Friends._"

"Say hi to Euphy for me," Ichi requested, floating in the air.

"_Alright,_" Suzaku replied with a smile. "_Say hi to Kallen for me._"

Hayate laughed, "You got it." He gave him a salute before flying off into the night sky. That went better than expected. Though they were going to be enemies when they met on the battlefield, at least he knew there would be no bad blood between them. Not only that; his parents were finally getting along.

"YES!" He shouted happily in to the sky, flying faster than before. He'd most certainly tell Kallen Suzaku said hi. Baby steps.


	11. Euphemia's Plan

**Chapter 11**

_"Okay," Kallen breathed, straightening her son's collar. "Are you sure you have everything? Money? Lunch? All your supplies?" _

_Hayate smiled reassuringly, patting his school bag, "I've got everything right here, Mom. It's all good. You're worrying too much. Everything's gonna be fine."_

"_Yeah, Aunt Kallen," Naoto grinned, throwing his arm over Hayate's shoulder. "Besides, if anything happens, Hayate's got me too, and the rest of us. If anyone's gonna get in trouble, it'll probably be Guy."_

_Kallen nodded in agreement with a small smile, "Sorry. I just worry. I barely spent time in school, so I don't want you to have to go through the same thing I did."_

"_Don't worry, Mom," Hayate replied, patting her shoulder. "It's not like I'm gonna be ditching all the time. There's no reason for me too."_

"It's true." Hayate was snapped out of his sleep by the teacher's sharp voice. He smacked his lips, stretching his arms in the air above him. He, Suzaku and Lelouch were made to do all of their work since their attendance record was going south. Kallen got away scot-free because she claimed she was sick and her scores were higher than theirs.

The teacher continued, glaring at the boy's, "Due to the intervention of the Chinese Federation and the terrorist acts carried out by the Black Knights, there are various uproar taking place around the world. However, this problem is not tied to that. It's a fact that your attendance is not sufficient. No matter how good your grades are. No matter if you're a soldier or not. You have no choice but to repeat the grade if your attendance is not sufficient!"

Hayate whined mentally, not wanting to start the woman up again if she heard him. He had already finished this subject and knew that there were several others coming up. It wasn't his fault Suzaku and Lelouch were so slow. His mom always told him his dad's mind was a bit on the slow side and that she was glad he had gotten hers.

…

Fireworks were shot in the air, people were conversing and playing games with one another. All in all, the festival was very lively at Ashford Academy. He'd only been to one of them his first year at the school and it was fun though Hans had tried to challenge him to almost every single game and Sally kept dragging him everywhere.

Hayate gazed around, smiling a bit at the bright atmosphere. He hadn't felt this kind of air since he got to this timeline. He hoped something good came out of today. He was startled out of his thoughts when he felt someone tug on his arm.

He blinked, gazing down at the culprit, "P-Prez, what are you doing?"

Milly clucked her tongue, dragging him forcefully, "You and Lelouch think that you can laze about today because there's a festival going on but need I remind you that you are still a part of the student council and you will work."

"Ah, wait," He protested, trying to get the correct footing. "I'll work, I'll work. Just stop tugging me along. I get it." And this was reminding him too much of Sally it was beginning to get creepy.

She brought him to one of the storage rooms and shoved him in. She winked with a grin, "Get to work now. You can have playtime when everything's finished." With that, she shut the door.

Hayate tsked, scratching his head and muttering, "Sheesh, you'd think she'd do something too. I swear, she and Sally are just the same person." He was about to walk towards where he heard someone chopping something until he heard two familiar voices. He listened closely and realized it was Suzaku and Kallen.

"A part of me didn't think you were coming back to school," Suzaku spoke, putting some of the food away to wash.

Kallen rolled her eyes, "Like I'd let you stop me." She paused, biting her lip, "Why haven't you told anyone my identity?"

"You're Kallen Stadtfeld now, aren't you? Not Kallen Kozuki," Suzaku turned to her with a small smile. "A part of me thought we were friends too and friends don't do that to each other."

She shook her head, smirking, "Britannians do that, though. They don't show compassion so I don't know what you're trying to do here. Are we really friends or are you trying to show me mercy before you capture me?"

"I won't show you any mercy on the battlefield," He replied with a frown. "But I promised Hayate that we would still be friends in school and that we wouldn't bring any animosity to one another until the battlefield. I know what you fight for but I will still try to convince you to switch sides."

She stared at him in a bit of shock, "You…"

The door then opened, revealing Lelouch. Hayate cursed the boy mentally. "Suzaku, the truck is here. The cheese is…" He stared wide eyed at Kallen, "You came to school?"

The red head reverted back to her other persona, appearing soft and fragile, "Y-yes. My physical condition wasn't that bad."

Suzaku walked up to them, "Kallen, about what we spoke of earlier. It has nothing to do with school."

"I understand," Kallen nodded with a frown.

Hayate shook his head and walked out of the shadows before they could do anything, "Yo." He put his hands behind his head. "What's going on? Is everything okay?"

Lelouch nodded slowly while Kallen and Suzaku stared at him, "Yeah. Everything's fine, Hayate." He turned to the only female there. "Kallen, could you come to the classroom after this? It seems that they're short on people."

"Oh, if it's just that…" Kallen murmured, walking out.

Lelouch began to smirk but stopped when Hayate narrowed his eyes at him, "And what is it that she has to do?"

"A haunted house," The raven haired boy chuckled, walking out of the storage room. "I thought you'd find it amusing."

If there was one thing he hated, it was how Lelouch was getting to know him so well. Once both Lelouch and Suzaku left the storage room, he burst into laughter at the thought of his mother wearing some ridiculous costume.

After his laughing fit was over, he stayed in the storage room for a while. He didn't want to risk Milly's wrath if he stepped out. She would've known he hadn't done anything while in there other than eavesdrop.

He worked for about 5 minutes before laying on the floor and putting his hands behind his head. He was alone with no one disturb him. He really wanted a nap now. He hoped and prayed to Kami that Milly wouldn't find out about this.

He only got to sleep for 15 minutes when the door to the storage room opened again. Lelouch and C.C. came in with the former dragging the latter. Hayate rubbed his eyes, sitting up. From what he could hear, it sounded like they were talking about pizza. Figures.

Before he could get up, the door opened once more with Kallen bringing Ohgi and Villetta in. He stared in disbelief; Villetta was with them voluntarily? Wait, he thought back to what his aunt and uncle had told him once. This must've been the time where she had amnesia and went by Chigusa.

Once he got up, the door opened once more revealing Shirley and Suzaku. "The gas cylinders used for the burners," Shirley murmured as she gazed around the storage room. "I remember the spares were placed here."

Suzaku blinked when he saw Kallen pushing something, hiding it from their view, "Oh? Kallen?"

"Um…hello?" The red head stuttered nervously.

Shirley walked up to her, "Are the spare cylinders there? Rivalz is looking for them."

"Ah, they might be on the other side."

"Is that so?"

Hayate posed a yawn, stretching his arms as he walked up to them, "Yeah, they might be. Let's go take a look."

"Hayate," Shirley smiled causing him to grin at her. "Well, let's go find them."

The mixed race boy chuckled at her enthusiasm. They were all startled by a sneeze that sounded too low to be from Kallen or Lelouch. Kallen stiffened, yelling, "Oh no!" She looked to the side, distracting the others as they looked as well. "The boards are falling!" She swiped her hand up quickly and soon the boards were falling towards them.

Hayate moved to catch the boards with Suzaku as a pink smoke filled the air. Once Hayate felt the weight of the board on his hand, he felt a sharp pain in his side causing him to lose his grip on them. They fell freely after Hayate let them go. Kallen rushed towards Shirley, knocking her to the floor and protecting her from the falling boards. Suzaku rushed over and held the board up with Suzaku.

"Erm…" Shirley mumbled numbly, staring up at Kallen who was above her. "Th-thanks."

"It's great that you're safe," Kallen replied relief. She didn't think she'd have to jump in so quickly. She thought Hayate would've caught the boards or moved Shirley out of the way. "But what is this smoke?"

"It's probably a warning that the gas is leaking. Looks like the valve has come loose." Lelouch answered.

Suzaku groaned, "More importantly, can someone help me?"

"What's wrong?" Kallen asked worriedly.

"I feel a familiar sensation on my leg," Suzaku grunted, glancing down to see Arthur biting his ankle.

Hayate laughed weakly, sitting up and holding his side, "Artie-kun, you've got to leave him alone once in a while."

"Are you alright, Hayate?" Shirley asked concernedly, rushing to his side after Kallen got up and helped Suzaku with the boards.

He grunted forcefully, standing up with her help, "I'm fine. I guess the boards were a little too much for me." He ignored Suzaku's guilty face. He also resisted the urge to laugh at Kallen glaring at the green eyed boy. It reminded him of the first time he had gotten hurt after training with his dad and his mom spent the whole entire time lecturing him.

"Let's get you to the nurse," Shirley said, taking his arm and helping him walk out of the storage room. Once they were out of earshot from the others who also left the room, she whispered, "I thought your side was healed. That's what my mom told me."

"It is," He murmured, hissing when his side stung once more. "A few days ago, I was on a mission and the solider I fought found out I was injured before. He beat my side until I passed out from the pain. I just have a bunch of bruises but they'll go away. Can we not go to the nurse though?"

Shirley glared at him, letting go of his arm, "You boys like to be so tough, but if your side hurts, don't hide it. Just tell me."

"I will," He put his hands up in surrender, smiling sheepishly. "I just want to see them make the giant pizza. That's not so bad, right?"

Shirley rolled her eyes, but couldn't stop the twitching of her lips. She took his hand and dragged him to the exit. Once there, he saw that everything had already started and Suzaku was in the Ganymede. He couldn't wait to snag a slice of the largest pizza. Maybe he could tease C.C. with it.

"Hayate!" He blinked at the familiar voice. He turned to find Euphemia wearing glasses, a hat and civilian clothes to hide her identity. She grabbed him in a light hug to which he was grateful for. "I'm so glad I found you. I've been wanting to talk to you about something."

He patted her back, giving her a small smile, "It's good to see you too, Euphy. What did you want to talk about? It must be important for you to come all the way out here and risk being seen."

"Well, I-" She cut herself off with a shriek when the wind blew harshly, blowing her hat away. She gasped in shock, covering her mouth.

Hayate blinked, "Euphy-"

He stiffened when he heard everyone muttered, "Hey, is that Princess Euphemia?"

"No way, what's the princess doing here?"

"Princess Euphemia!"

The crowd charged towards them, intent to see the Britannian royalty in the flesh. Hayate clenched his jaw, taking Euphemia in his arms, ignoring the flaring pain in his side and making a run for it. He'd have to get her out of the way of the crowd fast, but how? Cecile ran past him with Euphemia's guards and tried to hold the barrage of people back.

Hayate breathed raggedly, moving his slowly blurring gaze around the campus. He paused on the Ganymede, an idea forming in his mind. "Suzaku!" He shouted weakly, rushing towards him with his last bit of strength.

"Hayate?" Suzaku asked from the machine. "Princess Euphemia? It really is you. What are you doing here? It's dangerous."

"Forget that," Hayate breathed shallowly. "Just take her. Use the machine's hand to hold her above everyone. Please."

Suzaku nodded, obeying the other boy. He took Euphemia in the machine's hand and held her away from the rushing crowd that followed them. Hayate laughed in relief before tensing and holding his aching side once more. He fell to his knees, fighting the darkness that threatened to take over his mind.

"Hayate!" Euphemia shouted worriedly, holding her hand out to him.

"Hayate!" Shirley called, rushing towards his side. "Are you alright?" She gathered him in her arms and helped him stand.

He nodded stiffly, "I'm fine, Shirley. I just strained myself there."

She smacked the back of his head lightly, "You just had to do something heroic, huh? You boys never listen."

One of the reporters held their microphones the princess, "Princess Euphemia, please give us your comments."

Euphemia bit her lip before smiling, "Can you broadcast this video to all of Area 11?"

The reporter blinked confusedly, "Huh? A live broadcast?"

"Euphy?" Hayate murmured questioningly.

"You know here?" Shirley whispered, holding onto his arm. She had hoped she could get him to the nurse, but he seemed dead set on seeing what Euphemia had to say. Especially since she risked coming out to see him.

He nodded as the pink haired girl continued, "I have an important announcement to make." She inhaled deeply, announcing, "I am Euphemia, the vice-governor general of Area 11 of the Holy Imperial Britannian Empire. There is something important that I want to announce to everyone today.

"I, Euphemia li Britannia, announce the area surrounding Fiji mountain to be the Specially Administered Zone of Japan."

An uproar from the crowd soon followed. Hayate stilled, bringing a shaking hand to his mouth. She did that…because of what he had said on the island? If he remembered correctly, that was where she had killed hundreds of Japanese people under the control of Geass. Damn it, he thought. She would do all this for him and his family? Kami, why did he have to open his stupid mouth.

"In the Specially Administered Zone of Japan, Elevens are again able to use the name 'Japanese'. The restrictions placed on the Elevens as well as the privileges given to the Britannians won't apply in the Specially Administered Zone of Japan. Be it Britannian or Elevens, it is a fair world for all!"

He'd have to save her no matter what. He didn't want to think about what would happen to her innocent heart just because she wanted to make his life better. She didn't deserve what had happened to her.

"Can you hear me, Ichi? Zero?" He stiffened once more, feeling Shirley tighten her grip on his arm. "I won't unveil your past or your mask. Thus, please join the Specially Administered Zone of Japan."

The crowd began to speak once more, muttering about the masked terrorist and the late Prince Clovis.

Euphemia continued, "Zero, Ichi, join me and together we shall create a new future from within Britannia."

"LONG LIVE PRINCESS EUPHEMIA!" The Elevens in the crowd cheered happily at the end of her speech.

Euphemia gazed down at Hayate with a smile while the boy stared at the ground, gritting his teeth. How the hell was he supposed to deal with this now? He didn't want to be the reason she risked everything for. He wasn't worth it when millions of Japanese people wanted the same thing.

He was slightly relieved that Euphemia's guards took her immediately after the speech. He didn't think he'd react appropriately at the moment.

"Are you alright?" Shirley asked, gazing at his troubled face. "Is it because of what Princess Euphemia said? Hayate?"

Hayate swallowed dryly, relaxing his stance. He force a small smile on his face, "I'm fine, Shirley. I just need to think for a minute." Before he could protest, he hugged her suddenly, burying his face in her hair, "I promise, I'll tell you everything after I get some time to myself."

He released her and walked away. Once he was far away from everyone and the ruckus from the aftermath of Euphemia's speech, he leaned on one of the school buildings, sliding to the floor exhaustedly. What was he going to do? Was this really going to help everything? Was it really so easy?

…

"_This is the first time Britannia has tried to make something like the Specially Administered Zone of Japan, and it is something Princess Euphemia decided herself. Considering that Her Highness was still a student just a few days back before she announced this radical plan, we can't deny the possibility of that fact influencing her decision. As you can see, the plan is being carried out smoothly. Tomorrow's ceremony will be broadcasted to the whole world._"

Hayate shut the T.V. off, sighing heavily and rubbing his eyes. Really, what was he supposed to do? Maybe he could get Lelouch to side with Euphemia as well. It wouldn't be so bad since the last time it happened, the only reason the massacre started was because Lelouch lost control of his Geass. If he made sure that wouldn't happen then everything would be fine. No one would get hurt or die.

At least, he hoped so.

…

After much discussion on whether they should show up or not, Lelouch let Hayate show up as Ichi and promised that he would only go in and have the others attack if something drastic happened. He also told him that he had a mic in his helmet and so he could hear if something happened. He thanked him, put on his costume and flew towards the ceremony with Zero's Knightmare and the other Black Knights at his back.

Once he was above the stadium, he could hear the cheers and shouts of the Japanese people and the growls from the Britannians. "Ichi," Euphemia smiled brightly at his descending form. "You really came."

Ichi landed in front of her before kneeling and bowing his head, "Princess Euphemia, it is a pleasure to meet you." He stood slowly so as to not startle the guards and other royalty sitting there. "If we could, may we speak in private?"

Euphemia nodded, "Of course."

"Hold on just a minute," Darlton spoke abruptly, standing from his seat. "We can't just let the princess go off alone with someone like you."

Ichi held up his hands to placate the man, "I promise with my very being that I will not hurt her. I just want to talk. I don't hurt innocent people and Princess Euphemia is one of the many innocent souls I've promised to protect."

He smiled and, as if Euphemia knew, she smiled back widely. Darlton gestured for one of the security to check him for any weapons. He activated his wings to show that they weren't weapons. He had given his sword to Kallen before entering the ceremony. After that was over, he walked into the tower with Euphemia and deactivated his wings.

"What was it you wanted to talk about?" Euphemia asked once they were far from any soldiers and guards. "I didn't get to ask you your opinion on all of this because of what had happened at the school."

Hayate took off his helmet, giving her a small smile, "About this whole thing; I don't know what to say. I mean, it's great that something like this is happening but…I guess you can see why I can express my doubt. Was this all because of what I said at the island?"

Euphemia giggled, "Well, what you said made me realize how bad people have it and it inspired me, but when I went to the school, I met up with Nunnally. She told me she wanted nothing more than to have her brother with her in a peaceful world and that is what really drove me to do this. This is for all the Elevens…the Japanese."

He laughed, grinning widely, "T-that's great. I really do thin-" He was cut off by an explosion that rocked the entire building. His eyes widened in fright; no, no way.

He shoved his helmet on and grabbed Euphemia's hand, rushing towards the exit. "Hayate, what's wrong? What's happening?" She questioned frantically, trying to keep pace with him.

Once they made back outside, Hayate stared wide eyed at the Japanese people running around in a haste, trying to get out of the stadium. Who could have done this? He pushed Euphemia towards Darlton, "Take her somewhere safe. I'll try and get everyone out of here safely. Now go!"

He shot off towards the Japanese people, hoping he could make it through this tragedy without innocent people dying. Who the hell would put bombs in this stadium? Was it a Britannian or someone else? Why the hell couldn't this whole thing just go off without the Japanese dying?


	12. The Massacre

**Chapter 12**

_"Mr. Zero, why do you always keep that mask on?" Hayate asked the man who sat next to him as they stood in the kitchen together, making a snack for themselves. Kallen had left the boy there at the masked man's request. They had spent most of their time talking, staying with Nunnally and playing games. _

_Zero paused for a moment, his hands filled with meat for the sandwich he was about to make. He then continued putting the meat on the bread, "It's a long story, Hayate. One that I think you're too young to understand."_

"_That's what Mommy always says," Hayate mumbled, taking a bite out of his haphazardly made sandwich. He spoke through his food, "She always says to wait till I'm older to understand what is actually going on, but I think I know already."_

"_Do you really?"_

_Hayate nodded, swallowing his food, "Someone died, right?" He took Zero's rigid form as confirmation. "That's why you guys want me to wait. Mei always says that grownups won't tell kids anything because kids don't understand death like adults do."_

_Zero was silent for a few moments before speaking, "Yes, Hayate. Many people died which is why your mother or I won't tell you what happened. You'll understand everything when you're older."_

_Hayate stared at him, blinking before shrugging, "If you say so."_

"Go! Go! Go! Go!" Ichi shouted, moving the Japanese people towards the exit. He rushed them out quickly. Two bombs had already gone off and many were injured. He had to make sure they all got out before casualties started popping up.

"To the exit!" The Japanese people screamed as they ran out. Finally, after all the Japanese, injured or not, left, he stood in the middle of the crumbling stadium, cursing mentally; who the hell had set off those bombs?

The earpiece's static scratched his ear as Zero's voice came through, "_Ichi, are you alright? Do you need back up?_"

"No, I'm fine," He answered, gazing around the stadium. "Just make sure Euphemia and the Japanese are alright. That's your main objective. I should be out of here in a while."

"_If you say so._"

Ichi was startled when Lancelot landed in front of him abruptly, crushing the ground. He sighed in relief, "Suzaku, thank Kami you're here. I don't know what's happen-"

He was thrown off guard by the punch to his face courtesy of Lancelot. His back slammed roughly into the debris. He coughed, blinking past the black dots in his vision, "S-Suzaku, wha-"

"_I'm sorry, Hayate,_" Suzaku said through the earpiece. Hayate furrowed his brow confusedly; there was something off about his voice. It almost sounded dead. "_The Japanese must die._"

Ichi stiffened, "Wh-what?" He got to his feet unsteadily, glaring at him behind the helmet. "What the hell are you saying, Suzaku?! You're Japanese too!"

"_I know. That is why I will die after I kill you and every single Japanese person here,_" Suzaku responded dully, readying his sword at him.

Ichi pulled out his sword quickly, activating it and training it on Suzaku. He froze when he heard clapping in front of him. He tightened his grip on the sword when a small, blond boy appeared behind Lancelot.

"Nicely done," The boy said, smirking almost arrogantly. "You almost had everything go your way, but instead, you lucked out."

Hayate gritted his teeth, "Who the hell are you?" His mind flashed to when he was at the island with Suzaku, Kallen and Euphemia. He vaguely remembered seeing the boy's face before he had escaped.

The boy tapped his cheek, smiling slyly, "Well, I guess I'll tell you, since you won't be living long. I am V.V. That's all you need to know. Now," He snapped his fingers and immediately, something smashed into the ground behind Ichi.

Ichi slowly turned around and saw the Siegfried behind him. What was it doing here? He remembered when his mother told him about other Knightmare pilots. The owner of the Siegfried was Jeremiah Gottwald. Oh crap, he forgot about him after the battle of Narita.

He turned back to V.V., "What the hell is wrong with you? Why are you so dead set on killing the Japanese? And how the hell did you put Suzaku under your control?"

V.V. chuckled, "Well, I can make contracts just like your lovely C.C. Now I didn't give Suzaku Geass, but I already had someone who needed to use his."

He gritted his teeth; how dare he use his father like that? "You little sh-" He was cut off by the harsh attack Siegfried threw at him. He swore loudly, gripping his now dislocated shoulder. Crap, he was not getting out of here unscathed from the looks of it.

He jumped into the air, dodging another shot from Siegfried only to have Lancelot's fist slam into his back, throwing him to the floor. He grunted at the pain bearing down on him as he tried to bring himself back to his unsteady legs. He held his shoulder, gritting his teeth against the flaring pain.

V.V. walked away, "I'll be going now. Have fun, boys."

"Piece of shi- " Ichi's shout of anger was cut off Lancelot's fist that impacted his arm. "Damn it," He cursed, holding his shoulder once more. With another shout, he shoved the bone back into its socket. Pain flared through his shoulder to his back, but he knew he'd have to power through it to continue this fight.

Clenching his jaw, he readied himself to fight the Knightmares in front of him. When Lancelot's sword came at him, he quickly swiped his own sword at it, breaking the Knightmare's weapon. Siegfried threw two of the slash harkens at him which he retaliated by catching them and being pulled back to the Knightmare.

He landed on the center, gripping it with his hands and feeling it break harshly under his fingertips. He grunted when he felt one of Lancelot's boosters wrap around him, throwing him to the ground roughly. The sword skidded along the floor, almost hidden by the debris.

Ichi struggled against the booster before he was thrown into the damaged stands. He groaned, trying to keep his distorting vision clear. With quick reflexes he didn't know he possessed, he jumped out of the way of the incoming slash harkens. He ran off the stands, hoping to get back to flat ground.

Unfortunately, Siegfried's slash harkens flew off the stands and smacked him in the back, sending him flying to the debris. He gritted his teeth, feeling consciousness slip from him. He wasn't going to last long. His eyes slowly fluttered closed.

"_Mommy, where do people go when they die?"_

"_Why do you ask that, Hayate?"_

"_You and Zero said a lot of your friends died for peace. I just wanted to know if they're happy where they are."_

"_I'm sure they are, little man. I believe that they went to the place they always dreamed of when they were alive."_

"_But if we go to the place we always dreamed of when we're alive, why do we stay alive when happiness easily?"_

"_Because, Hayate, I like to think Kami left us on this earth so we could bring peace using the abilities given to us. We have to use as much as we can to change the world for the better. That's what I, your father, your uncles, your aunts and my friends fought for. I know for a fact you'd fight for it too."_

Hayate snapped his eyes open, just in time to see another slash harkens ready to impale him. He rolled out of the way, readying his wrist blasters. He shot Siegfried, paralyzing the machine for a moment. He grabbed his sword quickly and jumped into the air when he saw Lancelot fly towards him. He'd have to use that move.

He spun in the air, just as Lancelot did. Their knees met in the middle at the end of their spin kicks. Lancelot seemed to freeze in place after that. He knew that would shock the other boy. The only people who knew that move were his father and himself, so there would only be one person who could teach him.

Suzaku's shocked voice crackled through the earpiece, "_Hayate? How…?_" The hatch opened revealing the wide, green eyed teen as they both landed back on the ground.

Hayate took off his helmet, activating his Geass, "Suzaku, please stop this. You don't have to listen to that little piece of crap named V.V. and you don't have to kill yourself. You need to live on! Do you hear me? Liv-"

He cut himself off when a harsh pain ripped through his abdomen. He fell to his knees, moving his gaze down to the blood staining his stomach. He coughed out the gush of blood flooding his mouth, falling to the ground fully.

"Hayate!" Suzaku shouted, glancing at the approaching being. He got back into the Knightmare, ready to protect the other boy.

Hayate moved his gaze up weakly, staring at the distorting image of the being in front of him. The boy was around his age or younger. He had dark hair, purple eyes and was holding the gun that had shot the bullet that was in Hayate tightly.

"Wh…who are…you?" The mixed race boy whispered faintly, holding his wound to stop the bleeding. "Wh-why…are you…d-doing…this?"

The boy held the gun up, aiming it at Hayate's forehead, "I must follow V.V.'s orders." His hand tightened on the weapon. "You may call me Rolo."

"HAYATE!"

A gun shot rang out throughout the stadium.


	13. The Unknown Man

**Chapter 13**

_Beep. _

_Beep._

_Beep._

How the hell did he sleep through that annoying beeping that clicked incessantly? For Kami sake's, he just wanted to settle back to sleep and forget the bright lights bearing down on him from above. Oh well, he wasn't going to sleep anytime soon it seemed.

With much effort, he peeled his heavy eyelids open, squinting his eyes at the lighted ceiling. He could feel a slight headache pulsing behind his eyes. He moved his eyes around slowly, taking in the room. It was empty besides him, the bed and the annoying machine.

He grunted, sitting up with the little power he had in his dense body. He panted lightly, smacking his palm on his left hand and ripping out the needle that rested there. He took no care in the blood pouring down his hand and stood from the bed.

He grabbed onto the bed quickly, feeling his legs almost give out on him when he stepped on the cool floor. He slowly walked to one of the cupboards on the other side of the room, rifling through it. He took out a roll of bandages before wrapping it around his bleeding hand.

He walked out of the room, peering around the halls. After checking at least two doors, he found a restroom. He relieved himself which felt like heaven; he honestly didn't know how his bladder got so full. He washed his hands after and gazed into the mirror in front of him.

His hair was a bit long; touching the top of his back and his bangs covered his eyes which shone dully in the light. He had been growing a beard in his sleep it seemed. He ran his good hand through his hair, pushing the greasy strands back. He blinked at the ugly scar that lay on his right temple. Was he shot? Stabbed?

Dismissing that thought, he gazed down at his clothes. He almost sneered at the hospital gown he wore but was glad he was still wearing boxers underneath. With a shake of his head, he walked out of the place he had woken from and gazed at the outside world.

Despite not having any footwear, he walked on the street, ignoring the small sparks of pain that punctured the soles of his feet. He ignored the gazes on him and continued walking, hoping he could find someplace to eat. His stomach felt hollow; he could play a fantastic xylophone on his exposed ribs.

He finally found a small pub after walking for what seemed like miles. Before he went in, he felt someone bump into him roughly. He blinked his blue eyes at the agitated man in front of him.

"Can I help you, boy?" The hat wearing man sneered, and, though it was barely the afternoon, he could smell the booze on his breath.

He shook his head minutely, continuing to walk past him. The man growled at his passive nature, gripping the younger male's shoulder. He stiffened at the heavy hand, bringing his own palm up and gripping the offending hand tightly.

The man's eyes widened fearfully at the pain radiating from his hand to his whole arm. The younger male took the hand off of his shoulder, twisting it and watching the man fall to his knees in agony. He then threw a kick at the man's head, knocking him unconscious. He dragged the man into a secluded corner and proceeded to take his clothes and money. He wasn't a thief, but he was damn hungry.

After changing clothes with the unconscious man, he fixed the loose pants and walked into the pub. He brought the brim of his hat down and sat at the bar. The man behind it walked up to him, addressing him gruffly, "What can I get for you?"

"Whatever your special is," His voice came out raspy and cracked on each word. He licked his chapped lips, "And a glass of water please."

The man nodded, going back to prepare his food. He was glad he didn't have to wait that long for the meal he felt he was waiting so long for. He dove right in, almost eating like a savage. His stomach grumbled as it was filled and his throat felt much better after the cool water passed through it.

An arm appeared before his sight as he devoured his meal. He moved his gaze up lazily before swallowing a piece of his meal roughly as he stared into the yellow eyes before him. With the light hitting her head, she looked like a goddess from above.

The green haired woman smirked, leaning towards his slowly reddening face, "Hello, handsome. What's someone like you doing here all by yourself?"

He cleared his throat, rubbing it with his injured hand. He missed her glance towards the bandaged limb. "I was hungry. No one felt like accompanying me."

"I don't see why not," She stated in what seemed like a sultry tone. He furrowed his brow when she tensed up. He glanced behind her to see a lecherous man grinning at her.

"Hey little lady," The man leered close to her ear. "What say you and me go back to my place? Unlike this lowlife, I'm a Britannian. I'll always win." His open palm smacked her bottom.

Before she could kill him instantly, the younger male's good hand lashed out and broke the man's nose. The man cursed loudly, his hand pooling with blood as he held the broken bone. He snarled, "You little brat!"

He ran at the younger male who simply lifted his leg and planted his foot in the other man's face. Every Britannian in the pub was standing now, keeping their glaring eyes on the young man.

They rushed at him together and soon were taken out. The young man caught one's arm, slamming his palm into the man's elbow and breaking the limb. Another attacked him from behind but was immediately knocked unconscious with a well placed round house kick. The young man picked up his glass of water and shot it off towards the owner, hitting him straight in the face and knocking him out.

As he stood over the groaning, pathetic bodies of the older men, he felt his hand being tugged on. He blinked in surprise at the woman who smirked coyly, tugging his hand once more to get him to walk with her.

"What are you doing?" He asked slowly as he followed her reluctantly.

She chuckled amusedly and stopped for a moment. She wrapped her arms around his neck, much to his disbelief, and leaned in, whispering in his ear, "I'm going to give you your reward for defending my honor."

He was sold the moment she took his earlobe between her lips and tugged.

.

She had taken him back to a hotel room she was staying in. A quick glance around the room showed that she must've been sharing it with someone else. He didn't care about that. All he cared about was how soft her skin felt under his hands.

She breathed lightly, kissing his jaw heatedly. She was really laying off actually kissing him for some reason. That didn't really matter to him. There were much better things besides kissing, and from the way she was moaning, he must've been doing something great.

She shoved him on her bed before straddling his waist and ripping his shirt off. She threw them onto the next bed along with the hat he took. He bit her collarbone as he worked on her shirt, soothing the bite with his tongue shortly after.

They broke away once he pulled her shirt over her head. He gazed at her bare breasts hungrily. He couldn't remember when he had seen something as beautiful as this. His mind tingled, telling him differently in return.

He ignored the tingling, leaning his mouth down and flicking his tongue over her exposed nipple. Her breath hitched, her hands tugging at his hair. He brought his good hand up, kneading her lonely breast as he continued to suckle on the other.

She moaned hotly before shoving him back down. She tugged at his belt, prying it open and ripping the loose jeans and boxers off of him. As she lifted herself off his legs to get rid of the rest of his clothes, he began to tug at her skirt while scraping his teeth gently over her exposed neck.

He breathed shakily when her hand wrapped around his hardened member, stroking firmly as if she had been with him before. He flipped them over quickly, smirking at her darkened eyes.

He planted kisses on her breasts and slowly descended her body. He bit her just beneath her navel, loving how the moan ripped from her throat despite her best effort to keep quiet. He continued down before he hit her moist lips between her legs.

He nipped her inner thighs teasingly, chuckling inwardly when she grabbed his hair and forced him to where she needed him the most. With a wicked grin, he ran his tongue up her lips, stopping at the hardened nub which he proceeded to suck on.

She began to breath harshly, tugging at his hair. Her heels dug into his back as she moaned, "Ha-Haya…" He assumed that's what she always moaned.

Something must've been committed to muscle memory for he found it too easy to make her come. His scalp burned a bit at her rough tugging. He could feel the bruises of her heels as she cried out once she reached her climax.

He kissed up her sweaty, quivering stomach, grinning wolfishly. She threw him a small smirk through her panting. She then wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. Both let out a moan as the tip of his member dragged along her clit.

"Protection?" He croaked, swallowing dryly.

She huffed a laugh, shaking her head, "Don't need it, so get inside already."

He didn't need to be told twice. He slowly entered her warmth, gritting his teeth at what should've been illegal sensations flowing through him. She threw her head back against the pillows, gripping his shoulders as she let out a long moan.

He drew back, leaving only the tip inside before thrusting back into her. He clenched his fists on each side of her head; this was the best feeling he's had all day. He thrust back into her, finally getting into rhythm with her.

He felt his abdomen tighten, signaling his close release. He brought his fingers down, pinching her clit. She cried out, digging her nails into his back. With another pinch, her walls clamped down on his member as she screamed her release. He grunted, his body tensing as he came.

The room was filled with their pants as they tried to catch their breaths. He pulled out of her, laying down on one side of her and lifting the blankets up to cover both of them. He grimaced as he ran a hand through his sweaty, greasy hair, "Mind if I take a shower?"

She laughed breathlessly, nodding, "Go for it. There's a shaver and some scissors in there if you need it. Sorry, your stubble was a bit itchy."

"No problem, and thanks," He murmured, getting out of the bed and taking the discarded boxers with him. He was glad there were scissors; his neck felt abnormally hot with his longer hair.

After a nice, cooling shower and trimming his hair, he was almost done with his shaving when he heard a shout of, "C.C., what the hell? Your mission was to give him his memory back, not to have sex with him."

The woman, C.C., he assumed chuckled, "I know what the mission was but I couldn't resist. I don't know how I went a year without that."

"Gross," The other woman said in disgust. There was pause before, "Wait…you've been with him before?" She then sputtered indignantly, "That's not the question I should be asking. Did you give him his memory back?"

He walked out of the bathroom, his brow furrowed as he stared at the blushing red head before him, "What memories?" He ran the towel through his wet hair. "I don't remember ever losing anything."

The red head rolled her eyes, "That's the point. Of course you don't remember anything." She walked up to him, not caring that he took a step back from her in confusion. She tapped the scar on his temple, "You were shot and it caused you to go in a coma. They had told us you'd lose your memories from what that assassin did to you."

C.C. sighed lightly, taking the sheets with her as she got out of the bed, "Oh well. I guess we should get this over with." She walked up to him, smirking, "Just hold still. This won't hurt at all."

He blinked at her before feeling her lips on his. He stilled in shock, his mind on a whirlwind as numerous images flashed quickly through his brain. His life with his mother, his time with his father, hanging out with his friends, going back into the past, his double life as Ichi standing with Zero and the Black Knights, time with Shirley, time with Euphemia, the many obstacles he faced, the horrific face of that little shit named V.V., and what had happened in the 8 months he was in a coma.

Hayate sucked in a sharp breath as he pulled away, his heart beating wildly against his ribcage. He couldn't believe he had missed so much. There were so many things that had happened with the Japanese and Britannians and he wasn't there to help anyone. He cursed mentally, vowing revenge on the asshole that shot him and that little shit who ordered him to do so.

He frowned at C.C., "Really? You couldn't have done that, oh I don't know, before we got here? Would've saved a lot of trouble."

C.C. rolled her eyes, shrugging, "So sue me." A knock sounded at the door. The immortal woman moved to go answer it.

"Would if I could," He grumbled before turning to Kallen. "My main question is; is everyone alright? No one's dead."

Kallen shook her head in relief, "No, everyone's fine. Other than the Britannians thinking they can kill Elevens, everyone is fine. Especially now that you're back. We tried to fit into your suit but it wouldn't work for any of us."

"That's because-"

"It's genetic," Another voice spoke up.

Hayate furrowed his brow confusedly, glancing around. His eyes then landed on the little boy in front of him. He had dark hair and turquoise eyes. He'd know those eyes anywhere. The 9 year old genius Genma Kazuki stood before him. How they found him, he'd never know.

He nodded slowly, gazing at Genma intently, "That's right; it's genetic. How'd you know that?"

Genma grinned up at him, looking a little too familiar, "The spinal column has a genetic coding on it. I assume someone locked in your genetics as they made the suit so that it could only work for you. It's kinda like a defense mechanism." His eyes widened excitedly, "It's so cool. I've been trying to do research on it ever since I saw you for the first time."

"Who is this?" Hayate asked, glancing at Kallen.

Kallen ruffled the little boy's hair, "This is Genma Kazuki. He came to us when we needed help with your suit. He was the only person who found the genetic marker on it."

That's because he made the suit, Hayate thought with a roll of his eyes. He sighed, smiling slightly, "Alright. Now that I've got my memory back. Let's get this show on the road."


	14. Back to School

**Chapter 14**

"So…where did you get the suit?" Genma asked as he sat with Hayate who was busy getting dressed. After his memories were restored, C.C. and Kallen took the two males to Hayate's old hotel room where the older boy was getting dressed for school.

Hayate was glad to go back. Being in a coma for 8 months and getting his memories back, he had missed everyone's faces. He missed Shirley, Euphemia, Milly, Rivalz, Nina, Nunnally, Sayoko, the Black Knights, Suzaku, and Lelouch, surprisingly.

But now, he was busy entertaining the young boy in front of him. It was a bit weird at first, seeing as how Adult Genma wasn't really that different from Kid Genma, but the two were able to get along easily like in the future. It wasn't hard; the boy only really ever talked about was science and since he had Kallen's mind, he was able to at least comprehend what he was talking about.

Hayate chuckled, putting his blazer on and buttoning it, "I got it from a very smart scientist."

"Obviously," Genma sighed exasperatedly, shaking his head. "Some guy had to be very smart to give you that. Not even the great Rakshata Chawla could make a great suit like that. That's why this suit so awesome."

The older male laughed, ruffling the boy's hair and ignoring the glare he gave him for it, "I have to go to school. Hasn't the primary school class started?"

Genma waved his hand away, grumbling, "I'm in middle school."

Hayate stared at him disbelievingly, "You're 9."

"Your point?" Genma retorted as they walked out of the hotel room.

After dropping Genma off at his school, Hayate finally made it to his own school, feeling his stomach lurch anxiously. He wondered what Kallen, Lelouch, and Suzaku had told the others about his absence. The only one out of the student council who actually knew was Shirley and he wondered how hard it must've been for her trying to hide it from the others.

He breathed deeply, swallowing as he stepped foot on the campus. Many other students who knew him gave him friendly waves and smiles before continuing their day. He greeted them back before finally making it inside.

With a shaking hand, he knocked on the door and waited on baited breath. The door opened a moment later, revealing Milly. Before he could even put a wobbly smile on his heavy lips she glomped him in a hug. He grunted, startled and awkwardly patted her back. Her hugs reminded him of Sally.

"Hayate, you're back!" She exclaimed ecstatically, squeezing him tightly. "Kallen and Suzaku said you were back from your trip."

He hummed through her tight hold around his neck, "Y-yeah. I just got back a few days ago and I needed some rest."

Milly pouted, releasing him, "You needed a few days from us, didn't you?"

Hayate waved his hands frantically, protesting, "N-no! That's not it! I-"

"Hayate!" Shirley's voice rang out happily as she passed Milly and gathered the mixed race boy in a hug. Her voice cracked as she spoke into his shoulder, "I've missed you."

His eyes softened at her comment. He hugged her back, nuzzling his face in the crook of her neck. He smiled lightly, "I missed you too, Shirley."

Milly laughed from behind them, grinning mischievously, "Shirley really did miss you. She kept saying how she mi-"

Shirley shrieked, releasing Hayate and covering Milly's mouth. Hayate chuckled when he saw her shushing the older girl frantically. He moved past them, stepping inside the student council meeting room.

"Hayate!" Rivalz shouted happily while jumping on the boy's back. "We missed you, man!"

"Oi," Hayate mumbled, holding onto the boy's arms in hopes that he wouldn't accidently choke him. "Sorry. I didn't think the trip was going to last that long."

Rivalz grinned, getting off the other boy, "It's fine, it's fine. You're back now and that's all that matters."

"Right," Hayate nodded before giving a small smile to Nina. "Hi, Nina. It's good to see you."

Nina responded with a small wave while Lelouch approached, "Hayate," He said, patting the boy's shoulder. "It's been too long. We should catch up."

Hayate caught his eye and saw the raven haired boy glance upwards toward the rooftop. He mentally huffed and let out a smirk, "Right. Let's."

"And now," Milly exclaimed as she came back inside with Shirley. "We will have a welcome back party for Hayate. He needs to be properly welcomed."

The mixed race boy sighed lightly, knowing that he couldn't convince the president differently. From what he learned from Sally, once an Ashford got their mind on something, not even the end of the world could stop them.

He blinked when the door opened again, revealing Kallen and Suzaku. He smiled goofily at the two. From what C.C. had told him, the only reason he was still alive was because Suzaku, who was not under the control of Geass anymore, pushed the assassin, Rolo, right as he pulled the trigger which resulted in the bullet only grazing his temple.

Before Suzaku could do anything, Siegfried began to fight him and was only stopped when Suzaku flew out of the stadium, leaving Hayate to the Rolo who used his Geass to erase his memories. Apparently, both their Geass fought resulting in both of them being in a coma. V.V. had taken Rolo and left another bomb in the stadium to kill Hayate. He was saved by Kallen and Suzaku who had gotten back up and took him to an abandoned house near the ghetto where no one could find him.

From then on, the Black Knights, Suzaku and Euphemia began to work together in secret to try and kill V.V. and Rolo while also trying to change Britannia. Lelouch still didn't reveal his identity to them which grated on Hayate's nerves for now he had to keep Lelouch's identity a secret since the other male didn't want them to know. Hayate had simply rolled his eyes and said it wasn't his job to protect the identity, only the person.

C.C. had also said that Suzaku and Kallen were spending more time together on their battle strategies and giving the other information on whether they had heard of V.V. or not. The two made a new promise to only fight on the battle field to keep up appearances. C.C. mused that it was because of the attack on Hayate that they put aside their different beliefs and began working together; like a divorced couple.

Suzaku grinned widely when he saw the boy in front of him, "Hayate!" He wrapped his arms around him, squeezing him tightly. "I'm so glad you're here."

Hayate laughed, patting his father's back, "It's alright, Suzaku. I'm here for good, don't worry."

As Suzaku let him go, he gave a smile to Kallen, "Hey, Kallen."

"Hey, Hayate," Kallen replied, though she had seen him a few days prior when he had gotten his memories back.

After everyone greeted the boy, Milly and Rivalz began taking up all of Hayate's time by asking him how his trip was. Apparently, Lelouch had told everyone he had gone to America to try and find himself. He discreetly kicked Lelouch's shin when no one was looking.

Once classes were over for the day, Hayate followed Lelouch to the rooftop. He had told Suzaku and Kallen he would talk to them tomorrow when classes were over. The two were a bit suspicious of the two boys meeting since the only time they talked to one another they were always outwitting the other so it made no sense why Lelouch wanted to talk to him privately.

"So what is it you wanted to talk about?" Hayate asked as he leaned on the railing, gazing at the sky. "I'm sure you can see how suspicious this is since you haven't revealed your identity. Ichi and Zero are friends; Hayate and Lelouch are just classmates."

Lelouch feigned offense, putting a hand to his chest, "I'm hurt, Hayate. I thought we were friends."

"Don't kid yourself," Hayate chuckled before sobering. "So what is it?"

"The assassin," Lelouch spoke, leaning on the railing with the other male. "You said he had brown hair and purple eyes?"

Hayate nodded, frowning at the memory of the stupid kid who had gotten the upper hand on him, "Yeah. He said I could call him Rolo before he shot me. Why? Have you found anything on him?"

"No," Lelouch sighed and crossed his arms. "It seems like he's not even in the system. I've had C.C. look into it."

"What about V.V.?"

"Like I said; C.C. is looking into it," Lelouch replied. He glanced at Hayate before frowning, "What's your relationship with C.C.?"

Hayate rolled his eyes, "I have no relationship with her."

"That's not what Kallen was stuttering about."

The mixed race boy inhaled deeply, shaking his head, "Fine, you wanna know? I met her when I was 15. When I was 16, we had an intimate relationship. I ended it last year before I came here because I found out she was in love with someone else."

"Living or dead?" Lelouch questioned curiously. "I mean, she is immortal."

"Ask her," Hayate mumbled, walking to the door on the rooftop. He waved his hand over his shoulder, "Call me when we're gonna have a meeting."

"Alright," Lelouch's voice echoed through the stairwell. A part of Hayate wondered how long the other boy was going to stay up there. He was most likely thinking of the next meeting.

Hayate continued out of the school, running a hand through his hair. He paused at the scar on his temple, running his finger over it. He seemed to be getting more scars the more he was in the past. He now had two bullet scars on his abdomen and a scar from the grazing of a bullet on his temple. He wondered what his friends and family would say.

Guy would probably ask to see them every day. Sally would worry over him constantly. Amy would say girls like guys with scars. Hugo would ask to see them for medical purposes. Hans would try to get scars as well because he would want to one up him. Naoto and Mei would say they look cool. His grandmother and most likely Nunnally would worry if he was in pain because of them. His parents would…

His parents. He frowned softly at the thought of them. Though he saw their younger versions every day, he really did miss his parents. He still didn't get why Lelouch was such a big deal to anyone other than his sister, but he wanted to see his parents again no matter what mood they were in.

He missed his mother's stubborn and competitive nature when it came to him or his father. He missed his father who was still clueless about fatherhood after 17 years but would do anything to try and understand them.

Yeah, he missed them.

"Hayate?"

Hayate blinked as he was jarred out of his thoughts by Shirley's voice. He dropped his hand down and gave her a smile, "Hey, Shirley. I thought you had swim practice."

"I did," Shirley shrugged with a smile. "But Ms. Nu let us out early so I thought I'd come see you."

Hayate began to smile until he replayed her sentence in her head. He choked a bit, "Wait, Nu? As in Villetta Nu?"

Shirley nodded, "Yeah, that's her. She started teaching here once the year began. Why? Do you know her? You haven't met her yet since you don't have P.E. like Lulu."

His smile was forced and wobbly, "I guess you can say that." He cleared his throat, scratching his head, "So, what'd you want to talk about?"

She bit her lip, gazing around hesitantly before grabbing his arm and taking him to where the trees were and hid behind them with him. She gripped his hand tightly, swallowing, "I missed you."

"I…" He opened his mouth to reply only to shut it. He didn't know how to respond to that. "I missed you too. Though it feels like only a few days ago since I last saw you."

She put her other hand on his as she began speaking, her voice wavering as tears filled her eyes, "Kallen, Suzaku and Lulu said you went on a trip after the bombing at the stadium. I didn't know what happened to you; all I knew was that you were hurt. And then on the news…" Her breath hitched as the tears began to fall. "They said Ichi had died. And I didn't want to believe it. I didn't want to believe…"

"Hey, hey," He whispered, taking her into his arms. He ran his hand over her hair, trying to comfort her. "It's okay. I'm here. I'm okay. Everything's fine."

She hugged him back tightly, sobbing into his shoulder as she tried to continue, "You were gone for 8 months. I thought you had really died. Everyone had really believed you went on a trip and acted as if everything was fine, but it wasn't. It was so horrible because I didn't know if you dead or alive."

"I was in a coma," He said lowly, pulling away to see her tear stained face. "At the stadium, a lot of crazy things happened. I didn't anticipate any of them and I ended up in the crossfire. An assassin came and shot me. The only reason I'm not dead is because someone pushed him out of the way at the last minute." He moved his hair, showing her his scar.

She gazed at the scar with her puffy, red eyes. She brought her hand up, gently touching the raised skin. "Did it hurt?" She asked softly.

He shook his head, "I don't know. I blacked out right when the gunshot went off. I was losing blood from the other bullet wound the assassin gave me. I don't-" He cut himself off when he felt soft lips place themselves on his temple, gently caressing the scar.

He felt his cheeks heat up as Shirley back away a bit. She gave him a shy smile, "Just in case it was hurting."

He swallowed dryly, clenching his jaw. He brought a shaking hand to his cheek, his blue eyes bearing into her yellowish green ones. She responded by leaning up and parting her lips expectantly.

He leaned down and put his lips over hers gently. He knew how some girls were worried about their first kiss and how they didn't want it to be something short and sloppy. He had kissed girls before it wasn't like he was a novice or anything.

As his lips slowly moved with hers, he began to think how differently she kissed from C.C. and Euphemia. With C.C., she was passive. She let him do most of the work and did very little. When asked, she said it was because she wanted to see how he would handle things.

With Euphemia, she kissed with a slight bit of hesitance as if she was afraid she was actually kissing someone. She grew up prim and proper with the only her siblings to get to know. Never had she gone out with friends or talked about boys she liked. When she kissed him, it was like her freedom.

With Shirley, she seemed overwhelmed but not at all motionless. She kissed back with the only experience she had which was from reading books and from what her friends had told her. Still, with her inexperience, she kissed passionately with a hint of shyness seeing as it was her first. He could feel her cheeks heat his up as he gently prodded her lips with his tongue.

With that being said, Hayate thought as he continued kissing Shirley behind the trees, his hands palming her back as she ran her hands through his hair; he didn't know who he liked kissing better. All he knew was that his relationships were about to get way more complicated.

And that Shirley learned how to use her tongue pretty fast. He hoped no one heard the groan rip from his throat.


	15. A Step Towards Knowing

**Chapter 15**

_"I say we have a party to celebrate the end of those brutal midterms," Guy commented as they all sat in the student council meeting room. They had finally finished their midterm exams and most of them just wanted to go home and get some much needed sleep. However, people like Guy just wanted to celebrate every occasion they could find. _

_Sally giggled and grinned, "A party sounds fun. My mom throws the best ones." They all agreed when they thought back to all of Sally's giant birthday parties that Milly always threw every year since she was 4._

_Amy piped up cheerfully, "I'm up for it. Midterms were exhausting and a party sounds like just the thing to bring back our lively sides. Right, dear brother?"_

_Hugo sighed while closing his textbook and pushed his glasses up, "I guess a party sounds nice." Amy squealed happily and hugged her twin._

_Naoto shrugged from his seat next to Hayate, "I guess I'm fine with it. I have nothing better to do."_

"_I'm in," Hans drawled._

"_Pass," Hayate mumbled with a raise of his hand, his eyes stuck on the book in his hands._

_Amy, Guy and Sally turned to him in disbelief and their jaws on the floor. Guy burst from his seat, glomping his friend and crying, "Why, Hayate? Why would you leave me like this? I thought we were friends?"_

"_Don't you know how to have fun, Hayate?" Amy narrowed her eyes at him._

_Hayate gritted his teeth, trying to keep his eyes on his book while he struggled to push Guy's persistent, teary face back, "I know how to have fun, but I just don't feel like a party. I'd rather just stay at home. Guy, damn it, leave me alone!"_

_Guy pouted and crossed his arms while Sally appeared in front of Hayate, giving him puppy dog eyes. He gazed at her dryly, "It's still a no, Sally."_

_Guy began to do puppy eyes._

"_That just makes it worse."_

_Amy began to do puppy eyes._

"_Uh…"_

_Hugo began to do puppy eyes. That broke his resolve. Hayate groaned, shutting his book and throwing his head back exasperatedly, "Fine. I'll go to the party."_

"_Yay!" Amy, Sally, and Guy cheered. Naoto gave him a small grin while shrugging while Hugo smiled happily. Hayate honestly didn't care what Hans was doing._

"To Hayate being back!" Milly exclaimed, holding up a glass of what looked to be champagne as she stood on one of the chairs.

"To Hayate!" The rest of the student council cheered, drinking from their glasses.

Hayate leaned his head on his hand as he sat on the stairs and watched his fellow student council members party away. Shirley was trying to pry Rivalz's fingers from the champagne bottle while Milly cheered them on. Lelouch was with Nunnally and Sayoko, keeping them company. Kallen was watching the scene between the three student council members bemusedly.

The mixed race boy blinked when he saw Suzaku sit next to him on the steps. Suzaku smiled, "Hey. You having a good time? The party is for you after all."

"Yeah, I guess I am," Hayate answered, drinking from the bottle of his favorite soda that Milly made sure to get. "What about you?"

"It's a nice party," Suzaku replied cheerfully, gazing at the party goers. "It's always nice to just relax for a while. Everything's been so hectic."

"So I've heard," Hayate said lowly. He then furrowed his brow in thought, "Wait, where's Nina? I haven't seen her in a few days."

Suzaku blinked as he tried to remember, "Lloyd called for her. I think he's helping her with a project. He said he liked her mind."

Hayate nodded at the answer and continued to drink his soda. After a moment of silence, he regarded his father once more, "How's Euphemia?"

"She's fine," Suzaku exhaled, putting on a small smile. "She was distraught after the incident at the stadium, but she's glad you're okay now. Actually, it was because of her that the Britannians decided to join the Black Knights in secret."

The mixed race boy stared at him disbelievingly, "Wait, all the Britannians? I thought it was just you and Euphemia working in secret."

Suzaku shook his head, grinning at finally being able to pull the rug from Hayate's feet, "Nope. Euphemia told Cornelia and Schneizel how angry she was at V.V. for trying to kill the Elevens and you even after you protected her, and so Cornelia and Schneizel chose to work against V.V. and Rolo. They think they're a danger to any kind of society."

Hayate chuckled happily, pumping his fist, "Yes. My gosh, that's amazing. Euphy really is acting like an Empress now."

Suzaku chuckled with him before they both waltzed into silence again. They gazed at their friends as Rivalz and Milly were a bit topsy turvy from how much champagne they consumed. Lelouch was shaking his head in disappointment while Sayoko and Nunnally were laughing happily at the two. Shirley had started a conversation with Kallen who looked relieved at finally being able to do something.

"So," Suzaku sighed a bit nervously, fidgeting with the glass in his hands. "Kallen told me you slept with C.C."

Hayate grimaced at the remembrance, "Jeez, does everyone know about that?" He rolled his eyes, "Yeah, I did. We used to have that kind of relationship but I found out she was in love with someone else so I ended the relationship."

"That's harsh," Suzaku patted his shoulder sympathetically.

The time traveler shrugged, his thumb tracing the letters on the soda bottle in his hands, "Nah, it's fine. For some reason, I knew it was gonna end anyways. Too many complications and what not. My parents didn't even know about it which is why my mom kept trying to set me up with one of my friends."

"Really?" Suzaku asked amusedly.

Hayate nodded as he thought back to his friends in the future, "Yeah. My friend's mom and my mom knew each other in high school so they thought they would play matchmaker with us. I mean, she liked me from what everyone told me but I don't know." He shrugged, frowning, "I guess I just never saw her that way because I was with C.C., but now, I guess I do miss her."

Suzaku smiled slight before directing his gaze to the two conversing girls, "What about Shirley? And Euphemia? They both like you, you know."

"I know," Hayate whispered, bringing his hand up to scratch behind his ear. "I don't know what I'm gonna do. I mean, I do like Euphemia but I don't really have strong feelings for her."

"That's understandable."

"Shirley though; I do like her, but everything's so complicated right now," Hayate mumbled despondently. "I'll have to talk to them soon. I don't want to make anything harder than it already is."

As Suzaku nodded in understanding, Hayate thought to himself. The next time he saw Euphemia, he'd have to tell her the truth about himself. If he did, he hoped that she would see it as he couldn't be with her because he wasn't from there and that he wasn't using her. He would never do that to her; ever.

With Shirley, she already knew about him so he hoped she'd understand when he told her. It was going to be hard, he thought, since he already had strong feelings for her. He didn't want to leave but he knew he had to.

Hayate dragged his gaze over to his father, resisting the urge to smirk, "What about you?" Suzaku turned to him questioningly so he clarified, "Has any girl caught your fancy?"

The jade eyed boy blinked slowly before blushing and stuttering, "Wh-what? N-no. No one has caught my eye."

The other boy let out the smirk he had been holding, "Me thinks you protest too much." He glanced at him slyly, "You sure no one has caught your eye. It's okay to just be honest about it."

Suzaku grumbled, catching him in a headlock and giving him a playful noogie, "Shut up, Hayate. You don't know what you're talking about. Kallen and I are friends."

Hayate laughed as he tried to fight the other male, "What do you mean? I didn't even mention Kallen." He choked when Suzaku's grip got tighter but continued to laugh at his expense.

They both paused when a throat was cleared above them. They turned their gaze up to find Milly grinning at them. They fearfully wondered how much she had heard. She giggled drunkenly, "It's time for karaoke." She walked back down the stairs, gesturing for them to follow. She then got one of the microphones and gave it to the protesting Kallen, "You're up first."

"W-wait, no," Kallen objected as she was pushed on the small stage next to the karaoke machine. "I d-don't s-s-sing."

"Doesn't mean you can't," Milly mused with a wink. "Sing your heart out for the boy you like."

Hayate snickered as Kallen and Suzaku blushed. Kallen gritted her teeth, glancing towards her fellow classmates before begrudgingly turning to the karaoke machine. Hayate looked forward to her singing; she used to sing to him all the time when he was scared or when she was just feeling playful. Music started to play from the speakers as the song began.

"_Machi ha ima mezameteku atarashii kaze wo kanji_. _Nakushita yume no kazu wo mune no oku ni shimainagara,_" Kallen sang a bit hesitantly. Hayate brightened instantly; this was her favorite song.

Lelouch, Milly, Rivalz, and Shirley were staring in disbelief while Suzaku's jaw was on the floor. Nunnally and Sayoko were cheering Kallen on. Hayate was grinning widely, feeling his legs shake with the rhythm. He used to dance to this song with his mother whenever they had to clean the house.

"_Thank you for your love sasaete kureta. Kyou made deatta subete no hito. Thank you for your love wasurenai kara. Utsukushiku tsuyoi kokoro no hito,_" Life began to come into Kallen's voice as she rounded the chorus. "_One more chance. Mitsumete ite. Shinjita michi susumu you ni. Sou one more chance. Mou ichido dake. Ikite miru yo anata no bun mo._"

Rivalz cheered with Hayate as they both began to dance with the music. Shirley and Milly joined in as Lelouch was clapping his hands with Sayoko and Nunnally while looking impressed. And Suzaku…

"_Tatakai wo oeta kedo namida ha mada otosenai. Yakusoku no kaidan wo hitotsu noboru sono hi made ha,_" Kallen sang, her legs subconsciously getting into the groove of the song. "_I will try again koronda toki mo. Mae ni aruku you ni senaka oshite. I will try again itsuka oitsuku. Hitori ja nai yo to hagemashite ne._"

Well, Suzaku didn't know what hit him as he stared at Kallen with his jaw on the floor in shock.

"_One more chance. Yoake ha kuru. Te wo furitai hoshi-tachi ni. Sou one more chance. Ashita mo mata. Kagayaite ne sora no ue de_." The people who only saw Kallen in school were shocked to see her so lively, but still, one thing was for sure; the girl could sing."_Honto ha aitakute. Sono mune de nakitakute..._"

Hayate jumped on the small stage with her, matching her movements perfectly as they danced. "_One more chance. Mitsumete ite. Shinjita michi susumu you ni. Sou one more chance. Mou ichido dake. Ikite miru yo anata no bun mo. One more chance. Yoake ha kuru. Te wo furitai hoshi-tachi ni. Sou one more chance. Ashita no mata. Kagayaite ne sora no ue de,_" Kallen ended breathlessly.

The rest of their classmates cheered boisterously. The cheers knocked Suzaku out of his stupor as he jolted and began to clap clumsily. Hayate laughed, grabbing Kallen's hand and giving her a high five as she blushed in embarrassment from all the attention.

…

It had only been a week since Hayate had gotten his memories back. Lelouch told him to hold off on going back into his Ichi suit until they were sure they had something on V.V. and Rolo. Hayate looked forward to surprising his comrades, but unfortunately Genma, who was inducted into the Black Knights for his large IQ and for being the only who knew anything about Hayate's suit, told everyone that Ichi was back in action which resulted in a party though Hayate wasn't there.

Now, Lelouch had mustered something up about the two and told Hayate of the meeting. Hayate donned his Ichi suit once more and set out. Minutes later, he landed at the new hideout for the Black Knights, whistling impressively.

He slid in the key Lelouch had given him and walked in. Once he got to the right room, his ears were bombarded with shouts of happiness and excitement. "ICHI!" The crew shouted, rushing up to him and gathering him in their arms. The only ones who sat back were Kallen, Zero, C.C., and Rakshata.

He patted all of them on their backs or heads as he continued to walk forward, "Yes, it's nice to see all of you again."

"Are you alright?" Ohgi asked worriedly, frowning. "Is it okay for you to be fighting with us?"

Ichi waved off his concerns, "I'm fine. I recovered while I was in a coma. Everything's fine now and I'm ready to fight whatever comes at us." He turned to his comrade, "What's the news, Zero? I know you didn't call me out here just for a party with my fellow Black Knights."

Zero chuckled, "Of course not; that's just a bonus." He reached over, taking the folder Kallen handed him and gave it to Ichi. "I think you'll find it a bit refreshing for your mind."

Hayate furrowed his brow before he opened the folder. In it was pictures of Rolo coming out of a Knightmare. Another was Jeremiah Gottwald with V.V. and Siegfried. Other pictures were of V.V. and Rolo which looked like they were discussing something. He brought his head up, regarding the other male, "What is this?"

"What we need to take them down," Zero answered somberly. "With Cornelia, Schneizel, Euphemia, the Chinese Federation, the Knights of the Round, and some of the Britannian army at our side, we can take out V.V., Rolo and Jeremiah easily."

Hayate's eyes widened behind his mask; all of those Britannians banded to their side after the attack? They must've really wanted V.V. out of there. He glanced down at the pictures and frowned before speaking, "Not Jeremiah. We don't need to take him out."

"What?" Echoed throughout the room incredulously.

Zero lifted his hand, silencing them, "What do you mean, Ichi?"

Ichi put the pictures back in the folder before answering, "I'm sure we can get Jeremiah on our side. All we need to take out is V.V. and Rolo. That's our main goal."


	16. The Meeting With Royals and Terrorists

**Chapter 16**

"What the hell is that?" Ichi questioned incredulously as he stared up at the giant humanoid mecha in front of him that was currently being cooed at by Rakshata and Genma. "And why do we need it?" There was no way Rakshata and Genma were able to come up with something like that. They never worked together once so why now?

Kallen smiled as she stared up at the robot as well, "That's the latest mecha Dr. Chawla and Genma have been working on. I know; your reaction was the same as everyone else's, but Dr. Chawla and Genma said you never know when you're going to need something like this. Personally, I just think they were watching too many science fiction movies." Ichi nodded in agreement with her.

Genma and Rakshata turned to them, almost pouting. Hayate hated staring at the family resemblance and being the only one knowing about it. In the future, Genma always knew about his mother since she was so well known while Rakshata only knew about him when he began working with her. Now, he assumed at least Genma knew that Rakshata was his mother. The kid was a genius; there was no way that would slide past him.

"Hey," Genma exclaimed indignantly, scowling at Ichi. "Don't make fun of my baby. We worked very hard on this."

Hayate's eyebrow twitched as he regarded the boy, "Your baby? You're a baby, you idiot. You can't go around calling things your baby when you don't even know where they come from."

Kallen rolled her eyes, her lips twitching when she saw Ichi hold onto Genma's head, keeping the boy from hitting him with his flailing fists. She glanced to the side and noticed the newcomers right away. "Ichi," She said as she tugged on his hand. "There are some people here to see you."

Hayate blinked as he was taken away from Genma who was now giving him the finger behind his back. He grinned behind his helmet when he saw Suzaku, Darlton and his sons, Guilford, Villetta, Euphemia, Schneizel, Cornelia, her men, and some of the Knights of the Round approach them with C.C. and Zero.

Though he was suspicious of all the Britannian royals helping them, C.C. reassured him that they were all sincere on taking out V.V. and Rolo. While Schneizel in the future only worked for Zero for he was under Lelouch's Geass, Lelouch had once again revealed his identity to his siblings and used Geass on Cornelia and Schneizel to see if they were telling the truth and planning to help them. Fortunately, they and their men were.

"Ichi," Zero called out, stepping next to his comrade and gesturing towards the newcomers. "I know you've met some of these people on the battlefield, but let me reintroduce you. This is Euphemia li Britannia, Cornelia li Britannia and Schneizel el Britannia."

Ichi gave them a small bow, "It's nice to see you again. I'm also very glad you decided to join us in trying to defeat V.V. and Rolo."

"He tried to hurt my sister," Cornelia seethed, only relaxing when Euphemia rested a reassuring hand on her arm. "Those bastards are going down."

"That's good to hear," Hayate smirked.

Zero gestured to the others, "These are some of the Knights of Round who defected to our side; Gino Weinberg, Anya Alstreim, and Nonette Enneagram."

Hayate's eyebrow twitched when he saw a familiar grin on Gino's face. He clenched his jaw and ruled over it, "It's very nice to meet you. I'm so glad to have you on our side. We'll need all the help we can get."

"No problemo," Gino quipped, giving him a thumbs up. "You can count on us, Ichi. We'll take that Rolo guy out easily."

Hayate resisted the urge to facepalm while Anya simply stared blankly at her fellow comrade. Zero cleared his throat before once again introducing the others, "We have Gilbert G.P. Guilford, Villetta Nu, Andreas Darlton and his sons; Alfred G. Darlton, Bart L. Darlton, Claudio S. Darlton, David T. Darlton, and Edgar N. Darlton."

He felt a headache coming on.

"Again, it's great to meet you all," Ichi stated gratefully. "Now, I'd like for us to have a small brief meeting just to get to know who were up against."

As they nodded, Gino, Anya, Nonette, and Darlton's sons went with the Black Knights as the rest of them plus Zero, C.C., Ohgi, Kallen, Diethard, and Tohdoh went inside. Once they got inside the hideout, some sat down at the couches while the others stood by their superiors.

Hayate licked his dry lips, contemplating before finally sighing and taking his helmet off. The Britannians, Ohgi, Diethard and Tohdoh gasped at the move. He could picture Lelouch staring at him in shock as well.

He rested his helmet on the armrest of the seat he sat on and ran a hand through his hair. He gazed at the people in front of him, "If we're going to be working together, we're going to have to trust each other. My name is Hayate Kovac; I'm ¼ Britannian and ¾ Japanese. I came here because I want equality for everyone. That's what I fight for. I never wanted any bloodshed, and I saved any innocent lives that were close to dying."

Cornelia exhaled, closing her eyes and leaning back in the chair, "And we get that, and I know we've fought each other many times."

Schneizel nodded in agreement, "It's about time we forget our differences and work together."

"Also," Hayate spoke, taking a folder from C.C. He pulled out a few of the photos and set them on the table in between them. It showed V.V. throughout the years, revealing the similarities in his appearance. "V.V. is immortal. He's been 10 years old for the past 53 years."

Euphemia gasped as her siblings lifted the photos and gazed at it in shock and disbelief. Hayate assumed Lelouch was in shock from the way he was sitting tensely in his chair. He pulled out another photo, revealing V.V. and Charles zi Britannia, "He's also Charles zi Britannia's twin brother and closest ally."

The gasps were heard all around him. They had much more of a reason to be shocked. When C.C. had told him the information, he was shocked as well, but he was able to overcome it since he had no relation to any of royalties mentioned.

Hayate swallowed, putting his hands together as he began to speak once more, "To solidify our partnership and trust in each other, I will say this one last thing. It may be hard to hear, but," He gazed at the royalties in all seriousness. "V.V. assassinated Marianne vi Britannia out of jealousy."

Euphemia's eyes widened beyond proportion at the brutal statement, Schneizel's jaw hit the floor, and Cornelia stiffened in her seat while Zero gripped the armrests of his chair so tightly his fingers began to tear the material. Cornelia's men, Suzaku, and the Black Knights in the room were stunned silent at the admission.

The mixed race young man stood from his seat and grabbed his helmet. He gazed down at the royalties determinedly, "I know that this must be hard to swallow, but now that you know he committed that murder, it will be easier to take him down."

Cornelia clenched her jaw and stood in front of him. She nodded firmly, "We are on your side. When this is over, we'll bring justice to everyone; including Elevens."

Hayate grinned before putting his helmet on and held out his hand, palm down, "Equality and the defeat of V.V."

Cornelia nodded once more before she put her hand on top of his. Euphemia stood up and placed her hand over her sister's with a bright smile. Schneizel gave a small smile and put his hand over the others. Zero then stood with them and put his hand over theirs as well.

After they ended their meeting and agreed to meet again soon, they all walked out of the hideout and found the Black Knights, Darlton's sons and the Knights of Rounds having an enthusiastic chat at their lunch table. Hayate tilted his head curiously when he saw a bruise on Tamaki's cheekbone and some cuts on some of the Darlton boys. They must've gotten into an argument before they started to get along.

Before the royals could say goodbye, Hayate grabbed Euphemia's hand quickly, "Uh…can we talk?"

Euphemia blinked in surprise before smiling and nodding, "Of course, Hayate." She turned to her sister and smiled reassuringly, "It's okay. I'll catch up with you, big sister." Cornelia nodded reluctantly and the two walked somewhere where they had privacy.

Hayate glanced around and, reassuring himself that no one was around, took his helmet off. He sighed lightly while scratching his head, "I…I have something to tell you."

Euphemia took his hand in hers, squeezing his fingers to send some comfort, "Whatever it is, you can tell me."

He swallowed dryly and licked his lips. He cleared his throat, trying to get rid of the lump that was forming. "I…" He exhaled deeply, squeezing Euphemia's fingers. His heart began to pound roughly in his chest as he tried to speak his next words, "I'm…from the future."

Though he knew Euphemia liked to hear things out and never judged people prematurely, he could see the disbelieving glint in her eyes. He rushed to explain, "L-look, I was born in 2022. I was raised by a single mother because my dad couldn't really be my dad because of something he did in the past. After a freak accident I had, I realized I could change what happened to my parents so here I am."

Euphemia bit her lip contemplatively before glancing up at him uncertainly, "If you're from the future, what was it like?"

"It was…" An involuntary smile smoothed onto his lips as he thought back to the days with his friends and mother. "It was nice. There was the equality everyone fought for. There was no problem but a lot of good, innocent people died for it. I realized I wanted to keep those people alive because they didn't deserve to die."

He brought his gaze up to her, the smile on his face vanishing as he spoke, "The reason I'm telling you this, Euphy, is because as much as I like you, I can't be with you." His heart took a stab of guilt when Euphemia's bluish violet eyes filled with sorrow.

After putting his helmet on the floor, he took her other hand and set his forehead on hers, hoping to comfort her, "Euphy, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for this to happen to you. This wasn't fair of me and I'm sorry."

He released one of her hands and put it to her cheek, "You are the best person in the world, and I'm sorry you ended up liking a jerk like me." He smiled a bit when she giggled tearfully. "After this whole thing is over, I'm gonna have to leave, but I don't wanna have you sad when I do. That's not gonna make the future any better."

He lifted his head and gave her a soft kiss on the forehead, "You are gonna shine brighter than the stars, Euphy. Don't let someone like me get you down. You're more than that."

Silence passed before Euphemia released his other hand and brought her arms around him. He wrapped his arms around her as well, gritting his teeth when he heard her sob into his shoulder. This was the one thing he wished he could take back, but he knew it had to be this way.

She pulled back and wiped her tears before she smiled at him widely, "I get what you are saying, Hayate. I'm sorry it had to be this way too." She put her hand to his cheek, sadness edging around her lips, "I will miss when you're gone."

Hayate swallowed thickly, "I'll miss you too."

Euphemia sniffled before letting out a small giggle and capturing his lips. He made a noise of surprise in his throat before succumbing to her soft lips and kissing her back just as sweetly. This wasn't a kiss of love or a kiss of lust.

This was a kiss between two parting hearts.


	17. Goodbye

**Chapter 17**

_"You know Sally likes you, right?" Naoto piped up absentmindedly as the two boys played video games in Hayate's living room. _

_Hayate choked, startled, and accidently moved his fingers on the controller, letting his player get killed by Naoto. He turned his glare to his best friend as the game began to start over, "Really?"_

_Naoto chuckled, "What?" He questioned amusedly as he chose a different weapon for his player._

_Hayate rolled his eyes, "There's no way she likes me." He chose the same weapon for his player. He was beating Naoto badly before he brought up Sally._

"_She does," Naoto stated._

"_She does!" Guy sobbed, suddenly appearing behind the couch and startling the other boys._

"_Guy," Hayate stared at him incredulously. "What are you doing here?"_

_Kallen's voice came in from the kitchen, "Hayate, let Guy play. He came a long way and he almost broke down the door again."_

_Hayate rolled his eyes, "Fine." He grabbed another control for the blue haired boy and gave it to him as he jumped over the couch to sit between the boys. He sighed as they started the game, "Like I was saying; there's no way Sally likes me. I'm the most unlikable person in school. Besides Hans."_

"_I'm not arguing with that," Naoto laughed as they started the game. "Hey, look; I don't know why she likes you. I just know that she does."_

"_The only thing I need right now is for Guy to stop crying," Hayate mumbled as his blue haired friend kept his tears flowing._

_If Sally really did like him, he didn't know how to deal with that. He liked being with Cecily; being with her was a whole different experience. And to be honest, he didn't really feel that way towards Sally._

_He sighed lightly, continuing the game, "Well, I shouldn't really take your word for it. If she likes me, she'll tell me."_

Hayate snuck a glance at his watch one more time as he stood at the front of the shopping center, waiting for Shirley. A few days before, she had told him if he wanted to hang out once more which he eagerly agreed to. It wasn't until later that he realized he still needed to tell her about going back to the future and, ultimately, leaving her behind while he waited to be born again.

Now, he stood patiently, waiting for her to show so they could have their day together. A day that might be their last together since Hayate didn't know when the plan was going to commence, but he knew it was soon. He could feel it in his gut.

"Hayate!" The mixed race young man felt his lips stretch into a grin involuntarily when he heard Shirley's voice. The orange haired girl stopped in front of him, smiling, "Have you been waiting here long?"

"Not at all," Hayate replied before holding out his arm. "Shall we go?"

Shirley nodded, hooking her arm with his as they began walking through the shopping center. After an hour or so of helping Shirley shop, they finally stopped to get something to eat. Hayate was glad he could rest his arms and legs after holding so many bags.

"So," Shirley spoke as she sipped her iced tea. "How is everything now that you're back? Officially, I mean."

Hayate swallowed his food before answering, "It's good. I mean, it's nice seeing everyone work together again. I can't believe it all came from the attack that happened to me. It's really something. Also, the man in the future who gave me my suit is actually working with us too."

Shirley blinked, tilting her head curiously, "Wait, if he's older in the future then that means-?"

He cut her off with his affirming nod, "Yep. He's 9 years old, but he's still a genius. He was appointed on the team since he was the only one who knew how my suit worked."

"Isn't that something?" She questioned amusedly, taking a small bite out of her meal. She then smiled a bit tentatively, "So, what do you feel like doing today?"

He stared out the window of the small restaurant, seeing the setting sun. He tapped his fingers on his chin before grinning, "I think I know just the place." He took out some money that he had, courtesy of C.C., and put it on the table.

Shirley got one last sip of her iced tea before following Hayate's example. The two of them left the restaurant with Hayate leading the way. She giggled at his grinning face, "Where are we going?"

Hayate glanced at the darkening sky once more before chuckling, "In my time, I had a few friends that were girls who always liked going to this place to dance. They forced me to go with them and dance every single time."

"I'd like to see that," She replied, still giggling.

Soon, Hayate found the small club that Sally, Amy, and Mei would always take him to. They got in easily after showing their IDs. Once in there, he could already hear the thumping music reverberating in the walls.

"Come on," Hayate urged his female companion and tugged her hand so they were on the small dance floor. He grinned when he heard the song coming on. It certainly fit who he was with.

"_Make us free na Splash! Kasaneta hikari no kontorasuto abite. Feel so free na kyō tobikomu ore-tachi no Brand new blue, yeh. Omou yō ni sei! Sei! Sei! A-oh. Jibunrashiku kick! Kick! Kick! a-oh. Tsukamitai nda pull! Pull! Pull! A-oh. Todoki-sō na deep! Deep! Deep! Splash Free,_" He sang along with the loud song playing. He danced along, jumping up and down.

Shirley laughed, trying to grab one of his hands to hold herself together, "What are you doing?"

"Just listen!" He shouted over the music as he began with the first verse. "_Pure nai hi ga nai kurai __(__nai kurai__) __back & fill na batafurai. Shikōsakugo no shōritsu wa __(i__n the future__)__. Atode īdaro __(__so, take it easy, ah__)._ _Uruo shite__ (__mizu o kaku yubi ni__)__. Nagarekomu emotion__ (__kawaki o mitase__).__ Nankaina rirē ja mō __(__o-oh__) __atsuku narenai. Kokoro o hanate!_"

She gaped before smacking his chest and glaring at him with feigned heatedness, "Oh, I can't believe you."

He laughed as he continued, dancing and all, "_Make us free na Splash! Kasaneta hikari no kontorasuto no naka. Itsu made mo owaranai natsu ni me o korashite yeh. Omoiomoi ni sei! Sei! Sei! A-oh. Jibunrashiku kick! kick! kick! a-oh. Mabushi-sa e to pull! Pull! Pull! A-oh. Te o nobashita deep! Deep! Deep! Splash Free._"

He grabbed her hand and twirled around before taking her other hand, "_Mukininaru hi mo arudaro __(__arudaro__) __back & forth ni tadayotte. Rakan teki na uwabe toka __(__I know, I know__)__. Urayan dari shite __(__but, never too late, ah__)__._"

"You're so funny."

"_Tsumasaki ni __(__kanjiru yori saki ni__)__. Tsugi no vibration (kizuite shimau__).__ Chūcho shita __(__itsuka no jibun__).__ Kage o tobikoete ike __(__ima shika nai wave__).__ Mamori kirenai __(__mizu o keru yō ni__).__ Genjitsumi no nai puraido nanda __(__namerakana sende__).__ Saizen no tsumori ja __(__wo-o-oh__) __chīsaku naru ze __(__sā__).__ Imēji o sutero!_" Hayate twirled her out before he pulled her back, both flush together.

Shirley huffed with a roll of her eyes. He grinned, "_Let us free na Style! Umidasu dare demonai ao ni furete. Itsu yori mo jiyūna ore-tachi ni naru nda yeh. Omou yō ni sei! Sei! Sei! A-oh. Jibunrashiku kick! Kick! Kick! A-oh. Tsukamitai nda pull! Pull! Pull! A-oh. Todoki-sō na deep! Deep! Deep! Splash Free._"

His eyes dropped down to her lips, feeling a burst of heat spread through his chest. He swallowed dryly when he noticed her gaze as well. He continued as the song neared its end, "_Make us free na Splash! kasaneta hikari no kontorasuto no naka. Itsu made mo owaranai natsu o yakitsukete Dive in blue. Let us free na Style! Umidasu dare demonai ao ni furete. Itsu yori mo jiyūna ore-tachi ni naru nda yeh. Omoiomoi ni sei! Sei! Sei! A-oh. Jibunrashiku kick! Kick! Kick! A-oh. Mabushi-sa e to pull! Pull! Pull! A-oh. Te o nobashita deep! Deep! Deep! Splash Free._"

As the song faded into another, Shirley took a step away from him. She chuckled, shaking her head, "You must think you're really funny."

"I like to think so," He replied with a wide grin. "Now let's get on with the rest of the day."

After hanging out and getting a few drinks, they made their way to the school's dormitory for Shirley to put her clothes away. Once that was done, they found themselves wandering towards the pool area. Hayate had only ever been there once, and that was when Sally wanted to have a pool party. Even so, as he looked at it now, it still looked the same with the pool lights making it glow brightly as if magic was happening at the bottom.

He sighed airily, taking off his shoes and jacket. Shirley raised an amused eyebrow, "What are you doing?"

"I feel like going swimming," He answered as he unbuckled his belt. "After dancing to that song, I just feel like going for a small swim."

He chuckled when she smacked his shoulder. She shook her head, "I think I've had enough of your swimming jokes."

He dropped his pants and tugged off his shirt. He almost tripped over his feet as he took his socks off. He jumped into the pool after that, almost yelping from the freezing temperature of the water.

When he surfaced, he winced when he heard another splash in the water. He blinked past the water dripping in his eyes and gazed at Shirley who surfaced as well. He exhaled, letting himself float in the water, "Hey, Shirley?"

"Yeah?" She swam next to him gracefully.

He frowned a bit sadly, "You know I'm from the future right?"

"Of course."

He stared at the night sky, watching the brightly glowing moon, "I'm gonna have to go back, you know? I can't stay here forever."

He glanced to the side when he heard the water stop sifting. Shirley frowned, her eyes shining either from unshed tears or from the glow of the pool, "When do you think you're going to go?"

He moved himself so his feet were touching the pool's floor. He ran a hand through his wet hair before scratching his forehead, "When equality happens. I'm sure that's gonna come. There's no way it won't."

Shirley swallowed before swimming towards him. Hayate watched as she brought her hands up to his wet cheeks and sealed their chlorine tasting lips together. He wrapped his arms around her waist, deepening the kiss.

When they separated, Shirley put her forehead to his shoulder, "Well, I guess I can't wait to see you again in the future."

His lips quirked up sadly before he hugged her back, "Yeah, I can't wait to see you again either."


End file.
